


PenPals

by abomination



Series: Penpals [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Implied Relationships, M/M, minor giripan in the first chap, obvi everything except ameripan is a side ship, penpals, such a slow burn that you're literally on fire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-04-15 13:46:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4608999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abomination/pseuds/abomination
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Literally an au where Alfred and Kiku become friends (and eventually more) through being penpals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Letters

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea from something on tumblr and I just really love ameripan so, here ya' go. My first long fic for these two, I hope you enjoy~

"Okay, class," Arthur—or as he asked Alfred to address him in school, “Mr. Kirkland”—started as he made his way to the chalkboard. He leaned back slightly, trying not to get chalk on what seemed to be a new suit. All Alfred knew is that he had never seen it on him before until now. Arthur put his hands together. "Today, I have some great news."   
  
He looked around the classes at the faces, but was met with the usual blank, uninterested stares. Despite this, he continued on. "We have been assigned penpals from Japan." This seemed to have piqued the interest of some, as some heads snapped up from their phones and notebooks. _Oh great_ , Alfred thought, _another assignment for him to badger me at home to do_. That was one of the many downsides to having your caretaker be your English teacher.

“I have the first letters they have sent us. Please be polite and make sure to try and not use slang.” Arthur grabbed a stack of letters from his desk that were wrapped up in a rubber band. “Oh,” he looked up as he struggled with the rubber band. “I will be reading these, so don’t think you can get away with not taking this seriously.” He chided.

He began to pass them out to the class, each envelope with the name of a different student’s name. Alfred had already known about the idea, or more like he vaguely remembered Arthur bringing it up one night during dinner. It was something about a friend he knew teaching English in Japan wanting to start a correspondence with one of Arthur’s own classes. Arthur is always looking for something to brag about, so Alfred isn’t surprised that he jumped at the offer.

Finally, Arthur had made his way over to Alfred and dropped a letter on his desk. Their eyes met for a brief moment, Arthur giving him what seemed to be an annoyingly knowing look.

Alfred yawned as he opened the envelope. He had practice yesterday and then a mountain of homework and studying to do, so he only got two, maybe three hours of shut eye? It didn’t matter to him away, he just knew that it definitely wasn’t enough to function in school. He had practically begged Arthur to let him stay home, but there was no way Arthur was going to let him. Alfred was resigned to think that he liked to watch him suffer.

He pulled the (very formal looking) paper from the envelope and unfolded it. Alfred adjusted the glasses on his face and began to read.

 

_Dear Alfred Jones,_

_My name is Kiku Honda and I am a student here in Japan. As a project for English we will be spending our remaining two terms writing to your class. I’m very excited at the opportunity to have an authentic conversation with a fluent English speaker._

_I attend the school your teacher’s friend teaches English at which is in Osaka. Osaka is very lively, though not as lively as Tokyo in my opinion. I have been studying English for a very long time as I have always been striving towards a career path in business. I hope it isn’t too terrible to read and I’m sorry for any mistakes I may make. My teacher proofreads and helps us, so hopefully I will not make too many._

_Sincerely,_

_KIku Honda_

 

Alfred continued to stare down at the letter even after he finished reading. The handwriting was incredibly neat for someone who wasn’t a native speaker, Alfred was a little jealous. Words that had been used to describe his handwriting ranged from scribble to chicken scratch.

Once the class became restless after finishing the letters, Arthur spoke, leaning against his desk. “Your assignment is to write a response. It is due at the end of the week, so you have time, I don’t want any excuses.”

From there he began the lesson on Henry IV, Alfred attempted to stay awake through it all, but he wasn’t surprised when Arthur shook him. “Alfred, wake up.”

Alfred looked up and wiped his eyes. Students were filing out, heading to their final class of the day. “What? Oh?”

Arthur practically glared at him. “You fell asleep during my lesson.”

“Sorry, dude.”

“It’s Mr. Kirkland.”

Alfred stood up from his seat and threw his backpack onto his shoulder with a sleepy grin. “Whatever.”

“Hey—wait, where are you going? Alfred F. Jones get back here right this minute!” He left Arthur to his sputtering and went to his final class. He would want him to get to class after all, right?

“You look beat, are you sure you still want to do this?” Matthew asked, the concern obvious in his tone.

Alfred nodded with a grin. “So what if I’m a little tired? Ice cream with my little bro beats sleep anytime.” He put Matthew in a headlock and ground his knuckles into his brother’s head.

“Ouch.” Matthew tried to wiggle out of his hold. Alfred let him go and watched as he smoothed over his hair. “Don’t do that, please.”

Alfred pat him on the back. “Okay, only because you’re so polite.”

It was time for their usual once a week meet up after school. It was at the behest of their caretakers, Arthur and Francis. When Francis had moved into the town with his younger brother, he and Arthur thought it would be good for them to stick together and “strengthen their brotherly bonds”. Alfred was confused because he thought they already had those from, you know, being brothers, but he was glad either way. It was better than once a month skype chats and once a year visits.

The brothers chose the Italia gelato shop in the town center as their meeting space. It was a quaint little shop with only a few patrons, especially when it started to get cold. It also served ice cream, which they both loved. The shop was run by someone who was definitely not Italian, in fact he was a Spanish man who went by the name of Antonio. Alfred asked him once why a Spanish man was running an Italian gelato shop and he just smiled in response and said that he learned the trade by someone close to him.

“One regular vanilla cone and large sundae, please.” Alfred ordered excitedly, his mouth practically watering at the prospect of ice cream.

Antonio laughed at his excitement. “Alright that will be nine dollars, four cents.”

Alfred fished in his back pocket of his jeans for his wallet and produced the amount. “Here ya go.” He handed the money to Antonio.

He and Matthew made small talk while Antonio prepared their ice cream. He asked Matthew about how he felt about the next hockey season which was finally starting soon. Hockey was one of the few things that got Matthew’s eyes to light up and break out of his seemingly shy shell. Alfred cared about hockey to the degree that he knew how it was played and all the major teams, but all in all he preferred things like basketball, baseball and football. Especially football.

Antonio had come back with their ice cream. Alfred got his sundae (which was large indeed) and Matthew got his vanilla cone. They occupied their usual booth that was in the corner of the shop where the window was. Alfred always took the spot facing the window due to Matthew’s shyness.

“So, how’s the college search going?” Matthew asked a soon as they settled into their seats. Alfred paused mid-scoop, surprised that he of all people was trying to start a conversation.

“Did Arthur put you up to this?” He asked, with an eyebrow cocked.

Matthew shook his hurriedly. “Oh no, I just—I mean I’ve just been kind of worried about it lately with us being seniors and all. I feel like I can’t go a single school day without someone bringing it up.”

“Sorry, little bro, I didn’t mean to accuse you or anything.” He stretched over to pet Matthew’s head. Alfred went back to ravaging his sundae a scoop at a time.

“So, am I to assume the college search isn’t going anywhere?” Matthew spoke as Alfred spooned the last bit of sundae in his mouth. Damn, he loved ice cream.

Alfred put down his bowl and spoon, not bothering to wipe the bit of ice cream that had managed to stain the side of his lip. He shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I don’t really know what I want to do. I mean, I’ve always wanted to create video games, but everyone really wants me to play football, ya know?”

Matthew nodded. “By the way, how’s the game you’re making with Gilbert going?” Hidden interest lurked in his blue eyes. He and Gilbert had been working on a game for some time now, it didn’t have a name since neither could agree on one (Gilbert kept suggesting they name it ‘The Adventures of Mr. Awesome’ and Alfred insisted that the title be ‘The Adventures of Mr. Hero’).

“We’ve made enough progress with the plot, I’m working on the concept art right now since I’m the only one who sort of knows how to draw.” Alfred laughed to himself. “Gilbert can’t draw a stick figure even if he tried.”

Matthew smirked for a fleeting moment, which was a rare moment for Alfred. Matthew hardly smiled around him.

“So, how about you? Do you have any college plans?”

“I’m going to apply to a few nearby schools and see which I get into. I don’t really want to leave Francis’ nest yet.”

Alfred leaned back in his seat and threw his hands behind his head. “Really? I’m dying to leave Arthur’s place.”

“Why don’t you like him? I remember how much you loved him when we were kids.” The last part of his statement made Alfred blush. Yeah, it was true, as a child he did love Arthur. Truth is, he still did, he just needed some space, but there was no way he was admitting that to Matthew.

“It’s not that I don’t like him. It’s just he wants me to be someone I’m not, ya know?”

Matthew nodded before going back to his cone, which he was more than three quarters of the way finished.

When the boys departed they made the promise to meet each other again for dinner at Francis’ on Thursday. (Alfred couldn’t wait to escape Arthur’s horrid cooking).

 

_Dear Kiku Honda,_

_I’m Alfred F. Jones and I’m from America (as you probably already know). It’s nice to meet you! You seem very sincere about wanting to learn English and I think that’s wonderful. Usually when people from other countries learn English they learn UK English, which is primarily used in the United Kingdoms, so I’m glad that you’re learning actual US English._

_Don’t worry about making mistakes, that’s what I’m here for! If you have any questions or curiosity (whether it’s about the country or language), I’m here. (Also my guardian is my English teacher, so he’s there too, just in case I can’t answer them myself.) By the way, your handwriting is beautiful, where did you learn such lovely script?_

_Sincerely,_

_Alfred F. Jones_

_P.S. Where exactly_ is _Japan?_

 

Kiku Honda stared at the letter, all of his previous anxieties expelled. He was nervous that even with the help of his teacher, he would manage to make a fool of himself. Somehow, he hadn’t though or maybe, his partner was extremely nice. Whenever he thought about their compliment to his handwriting, he felt his heart do a little flip. He always worked hard to get every letter correct, it was good to know all that hard work was paying off.

It was the last line of the letter that left Kiku wondering. Had he really not known where Japan was? He had heard the stereotype that Americans were not all that knowledgeable about geography, but he never thought he would actually had to deal with it. Maybe he could manage to draw a small rough map on his next letter for him? It would really be a shame for his penpal to not know where he was writing to…

“Kirkland-sensei?” He approached the teacher after clean up, while all the others left to their clubs. He was the president of the school after all, the council meetings don’t start until he gets there. Plus, he was sure Ludwig and Feliciano’s antics would distract them all for about a solid fifteen minutes. How did those two strange foreigners make into the student council, he wasn’t sure, but somehow the duo managed the win over the hearts of the student body. Somehow.

“Yes, Kiku-kun?” Peter Kirkland smiled at him. He was a very young man, probably only a few years older than his own students and fresh out of college.

Kiku held up his letter. “I have some questions about the letters we were sent, I need some clarification for certain parts…”

“Oh, gladly, Kiku-kun! Here, tell me what you need explained.”

He had spent several minutes more than he had initially expected, having Peter explain the unclear parts to Kiku. He promised he would jot down some notes later when he got back home, but he had to get the council meeting room before Ludwig and Feliciano got out of hand. He sped through the hallways whenever a teacher wasn’t walking and speed walked when they were.

Eventually he made it to the council room in time and boy, was he glad he did. Ludwig had Feliciano by the shirt collar, yelling at him to calm down.

Ludwig let go of Feliciano’s collar when Kiku entered. “Hey, Kiku-san.”

“Hey, Kiku-kun.” Feliciano said in an almost dejected tone.

“Hello,” he greeted everyone in the room. He waited for everyone to sit before he did

They began by discussing the upcoming Sports festival and made a list of all the sports clubs that would be presenting.

“Well, our swimming club seems to be getting popular with the students of the school. I think we should give them a slot this year.” Ludwig suggested. Several people nodded in agreement.

Feliciano peeked over his notes. “Uh, what’s the captain’s name again?”

Everyone around the table looked at each other.

“I think it might be Jett-san.”

“I could’ve sworn I heard someone call him Kyle-san.”

“Just write down ‘the captain of the swim club’, Feli-kun.” Kiku whispered to Feliciano who nodded and scribbled down on his notebook.

A person from Kiku’s right spoke up. “Heracles-senpai mentioned the basketball team wanting a slot…” He resisted the urge to clench his first.

“Yeah, he told me to mention it was the meeting today too,” spoke someone to his left.

“Well, the basketball team did make it to the championships and has the winter cup coming up soon, so why not.” He mumbled.

Feliciano scribbled and Ludwig gave Kiku a concerned look.

They all took their turns coming up with a reasonable list of sports teams to include at the festival. They tried their best to find a balance between clubs that were popular among the students and the clubs that were known for all the trophies and titles they accumulated.

Still, Kiku knew that he was going to have to talk to him and something in the pit of his stomach had told him that he had planned for this to happen.

“Nice seeing you here, Kiku-chan.” He heard an annoyingly familiar voice say as he left the building. He stopped in his tracks.

Kiku wanted to roll his eyes, but turned around to face the source of the voice calmly. “You knew I’d be here, Heracles-san. I always leave at this time.”

Heracles came from where he was leaning against the wall and gave his usual lazy smile. “I wanted to walk you to the train station.”

“I’m actually walking with Ludwig-san and Feli-kun today,” he lied. Ludwig and Feliciano were probably already gone.

“But, I wanted to tell you this funny story about my cats—“He lifted a hand to place on Kiku’s shoulder and Kiku instinctively ducked. Heracles turned around with a confused expression. “You’ve been weird lately… If it’s about that night, you know you could just tell me—“

Kiku didn’t give him time to finish, he just took off, knowing that Heracles wouldn’t run after him. He somehow knew that he never would.

He didn’t stop running until he reached the train station.

 

_Dear Alfred F. Jones,_

_Hello again! Thank you for the compliment, I appreciate it. I drew you a map at the bottom of the page to answer your question from last time. It may not be completely accurate, but I traced it from a real world map. Also, we are learning what you call UK English, it’s just that our teacher wanted us to be exposed to the many dialects on English. My teacher is an Englishman, his name is Peter Kirkland._

_How has your school year been so far? I just came from planning the Sports festival at my school which is like a day where students participate in different sporting events. I am the president of the school, so it is my duty to make sure it is interesting for both the students and public. Do you play any sports, Alfred? I know sports are really popular in the United States._

_Sincerely,_

_Kiku Honda._

Alfred leaned forward, staring at the letter before him wide eyed. He looked at Arthur, who was sitting in his chair, pretending to read a book so he would seem busy while the class read. Did Arthur have a brother he never talked about? But, if they were on bad terms, why would they have their classes write each other? Or were they friends because they shared the last name?

He was tempted to bring it up at dinner, but, sadly Arthur ruined _that_ for him.

They were sitting at the dinner table, Alfred was forcing himself to eat whatever bland meal Arthur had cooked (he would just sneak some chips up to his room for later). The two ate in silence until Arthur decided that his presence wasn’t enough.

“So, Alfred,” he started slowly, setting down his fork. “Have you been thinking about your college plans?” He folded his hands together and looked at him with an expression that screamed “c’mon, make me proud” and it annoyed Alfred to no end.

As a kid he had craved the looks and when he had got them, the effects would last for days, even weeks. Now, he had entered the part of his life where he realized he wanted to do things for himself and not for someone else’s satisfaction.

 Alfred shrugged and took a sip of his water before going back to eating.

“Do you have plans for after college at all?”

Alfred set down his fork. “I just…I don’t know,” he sighed. His dream would be foolish in Arthur’s eyes and while he didn’t want to admit it…he didn’t want Arthur shit on his dreams. It’s not like it would dissuade him—or at least Alfred thought—he just didn’t want to know what his reaction would be to Alfred’s news.

“Well, Francis is taking Matthew to look at colleges this weekend. Why don’t you tag along? I would come with you all, but sadly, I don’t think I could take being in the same car as that frog.” Arthur looked passed him for a moment, glaring at nothing in particular. He and Francis apparently got into a huge argument from what Matthew told him. Neither of them knew about what, but whatever it was, it was pretty bad this time around.

“Sounds like fun, I guess.” Alfred agreed. He guessed he could sleep over Matthew’s house and use it as an excuse to visit Gilbert or maybe Ivan. The thought of the letters popped into his head and Alfred was reminded of his question from earlier. “Oh, yeah. Arthur?”

“Yes?”

Alfred was about to inquire about this supposed “brother” of his when Arthur’s phone rang. He held up his index finger as he dug up his phone from his coat pocket and left the table to answer it.

Alfred quietly went back to eating and when he was finished he grabbed his chips and left to his room, the sound of Arthur’s voice fading behind him.

Once he reached his room, he removed his sneakers in a few fluid motions and flopped onto his twin sized bed. It groaned under his sudden weight. He had assignments to be working on, practice took up at lot of his time most days, so most of his work had to be done in advance, but Alfred was not a very diligent student. He really just kept up his grades so he could play football and keep Arthur off his back.

His phone vibrated in the pocket of his jeans and Alfred pulled it. It read that he had a new snap on snapchat sent by _IAmAwesomest._ Alfred chuckled at the stupidity of Gilbert’s username, but checked it nonetheless. It was a ten second snap of a picture of a bouquet with the message _Prom w/ me????_

Alfred laughed, he thought that was the plan all along. They would go to prom together to avoid all the drama that came with choosing a date. (It also didn’t help that Gilbert’s ex, Elizabeta, was going with Roderich. Gilbert didn’t admit it, but he was definitely mad—or at least unhappy—about it.)

Alfred replied with a short video clip. “ _Duh, of course_. Now, shoo, I have homework.” He then turned on a small playlist he reserved for study as he began to sort out which assignment he would get done tonight.

He started with his reply.

 

_Dear Kiku Honda,_

_The school year has been going…smoothly, to say the least. In America, we’re only about a month into our school year, so everything is just starting to pick up. We have homecoming soon, which is a dance that takes place after a football game. I’m actually the captain of the football team here at my school. I’ve been playing football since I was a child and saw it on TV. My caretaker is British, so he couldn’t really teach me. Instead, he let me join a team and while I didn’t get to play much, they taught me how to play the game. I became good at it fast enough that I got to play before the season ended! I remember we won the championship that year, it was awesome. I play the position of quarterback, so a lot of people’s eyes are on me and my teammates look up to me. I love it._

_A Sports festival sounds like fun! I wish we had something like that in high school. Some elementary and middle schools have something similar called a “field day.” I remember we used to play kickball and basketball…this one time I accidently kicked the ball to hard that it hit someone in the face and gave them a bloody nose. They just laughed and said it was okay, but I was scolded for being too rough. Still, it was a fun day. We got blue shaved ice at the end._

_When do you guys have the cool festivals like in the animes? Anime is from Japan, right? Like, Sailor Moon (don’t tell anyone I watched that) and Dragon Ball Z? I’ve always wondered if the festivals actually look like that in real life. They look like fun._

_By the way, thanks for the map! It really helped. It was a very President-like thing to do. My school has something similar, but ours…well, they have very limited powers and don’t do much except pick the themes for Spirit Week, which is like a week where you show school spirit (and it’s ridiculously hard to explain too). How much control do you have over the school?_

_Sincerely,_

_Alfred F. Jones_

 

Kiku blinked up from the letter, feeling his head slightly throb. It was a lot to read and translate in his head. It’s not that he minded the length of the letter, he just wanted to make sure he understood it all so he could write an appropriate response. From what he read, this student had a very…endearing life. Reading his letter had made Kiku smile. The American seemed so outgoing and carefree. It reminded him a bit of Feliciano.

He stayed after again, this time letting Ludwig know he would be late for the meeting and handing over the reins to him. Kiku went over the letter in painstaking detail with his teacher. He was happy to help as per usual, with a good natured smile. This time Kiku took the notes while he was there, scribbling them down in English phrases.

“Thank you,” he said in English as bowed to his teacher. He then exited the classroom and headed for the meeting room of the school council.

Upon entry he bowed to those gathered around the table. “Sorry, everyone. After cleaning I had to ask my English teacher some questions.” He took his seat at the head of the table, everyone looked not to him, but at Ludwig, who was doing his job as Kiku’s temporary replacement. Feliciano passed his notes to Kiku and he skimmed them (which was hard due to Feliciano’s terrible penmanship).

They were creating the schedule and assigning different members to watch over various clubs and jobs. Kiku searched for his name and paused when his eyes rested on his name. Of course, he was left with keeping up with the basketball team. He held back his urge to sigh as he passed the notes back to Feliciano with a mumbled thank you.

Ludwig turned his attention from the group to Kiku. “We’re discussing relay and what games to play. Any ideas?”

“Well, the relay should stay the same as last year, though I think students should nominate the students they want to represent their class. As for games…maybe we could play kickball for a change.”

Several students giggled, a first year in the back raised her hand and Kiku nodded for her to speak. “Uh, I don’t think any of us have played kickball since we were kids.”

Kiku nodded and gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Yes, but won’t it bring back some memories? Also, everyone playing would be on an even playing field since no one really plays kickball anymore.”

They all mumbled in agreement and Feliciano wrote the idea down.

The meeting continued with game ideas, Kiku kind of just nodded to most of it though, the feeling of dread filled his stomach. He was going to have to talk to Heracles sooner or later whether he liked it or not and he wasn’t sure what he was going to say when he did. The other boy hadn’t tried to speak to him after the time that he ran off in a hurry, but now, there was no where he could run.

After the meeting, Kiku thanked Ludwig for his help to which Ludwig replied that it was no problem. The trio then split unevenly, Ludwig and Feliciano walked home together while Kiku left for the train station.

When he finally arrived home he slipped off his shoes and immediately went to the kitchen to make himself some food. He lived alone, as his father had business in another country and wanted as little as possible to do with him since his mother died. Occasionally he would be visited by his uncles who checked on how he was doing in school, but other than that he was completely alone in the small apartment. Not that he minded it.

He didn’t feel like making food today for the simple fact that he wasn’t very hungry. He wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he would soon have to face the problem he had been ignoring ever since school was back in session or if he really just wasn’t hungry. Kiku pulled out some rice balls he purchased at the convenience store for a time like this out of the refrigerator. He ate it quickly as he rested against the closed door of the fridge, his body shivering when his bare skin made contact with it.

The only thing he had to do tonight was study for his exams which were coming up soon. Kiku closed his eyes and tilted his head back as he chewed. He exhaled harshly through his nose. He had no idea how he could be worried about things with Heracles with something of that magnitude looming over him.

When he was done his food, he studied for hours on end until it came close to his bedtime. It was around this time that Kiku would start to practice his English, whether it was by writing, reading or speaking. He reminded himself that he had to meet with his English tutor outside of school this Saturday. The man was hired by none other than Kiku’s uncles in the hopes that he could one day become fluent.

Tonight he decided he would practice writing and wrote his response to Alfred, carefully picking and choosing his words.

 

_Dear Alfred F. Jones,_

_I really enjoyed reading your last letter! I read the letter with a smile on my face the entire time. You’re childhood seemed to be very endearing and cute. I was a rather shy kid my entire childhood, so I was rather reserved from the other children. My mother always joked about finding me under a tree reading while everyone else played games with one another. In truth, it was not the other children’s fault, I just really like reading. Do you like reading? Also, what’s your favorite book? Even people who don’t like reading have a favorite book. I have read too many to have an absolute favorite, but one that I recently read was “Norwegian Wood” (or Noruwei no Mori, in Japanese). If you ever decide to pick one up, I recommend that one. The main character thinks back to his time in college and the two girls he knew. It sounds very simple, but it is really good, I promise!_

_As for your questions, we do have festivals in Japan and our school sometimes hosts them! (And, yes, anime is from Japan.) They are a lot of fun. If you ever come to Japan, I would suggest coming around the time of a festival so you can go and enjoy them. They have many games available to be played and we get to wear these vestments called “yukata”, they are so nice and freeing! I have a lot of them, it’s so sad that I barely get to use them now. Speaking of festivals, they also have food stalls with different types of foods like ramen and crepes. They are nice and hot too, which is great on a chilly night._

_Being president in Japanese schools mean that I get to make minor decisions and I get to organize things like festivals and events. It’s hard work, but I like that people can rely on me._

_You mentioned dances…what exactly are those? I’ve seen them from time to time when I watch American television shows, but there must be more to it than dancing and dressing up, right?_

_Sincerely,_

_Kiku Honda_

_P.S: I asked my teacher if I could enclose some photos of the last festival I attended and he said yes! I am the only Japanese boy in the photos, the other two are my friends Ludwig (the blond, tall man) and Feliciano (short, brown haired boy). They are both foreign exchange students, but they’ve somehow captured the heart of the school!_

 

Alfred couldn’t stop grinning. He wasn’t even sure why. He pulled out the photos that were tucked in the envelope, behind the letter.

The first photo was taken of random colorful stalls with words in Japanese that he didn’t understand. Lanterns hung above the heads of the people walking by, lighting their way through the dark night. Alfred read Kiku’s handwriting on the back. _Food Stalls._ He drew a little bowl of ramen in the corner with the small words scribbled _So Good!_

The next photo was of fireworks in the sky. They were a plethora of colors, more than Alfred had ever seen at any firework show. They seemed akin to those large 4th of July celebrations in the major U.S cities. The back read: _I love the fireworks show, they are always so pretty._

Alfred had to stifle a laugh at the next one, the Italian, Feliciano was trying to catch a fish with a net that seemed to be as thin as paper. His face was comically set in determination—it didn’t look like he was used to wearing that expression. On the other side of him, the tall German man, Ludwig, stood beside him, covering his face in exasperation. Feliciano must have tried many times before and failed miserably every time. _I’ve always disliked this game, it’s really hard. But, in the end Feli did get his fish…_

The last photo was of Kiku. Alfred had to was surprised, to say the very least. He was a lot shorter than Alfred had imagined, with big brown eyes and raven hair. His eyes were narrowed and he wore a focused expression. He held a ring in his hand and held it inward, as if he were about to throw it. He was wearing a yukata with a beautiful pink floral pattern. _An embarrassing photo of me doing the ring toss game. I did get a prize though!_

Alfred could feel everyone’s eyes on him, curious to see what their classmate received. He even noticed Arthur glancing over his book at him and he knew he would bring it up for sure later.

He hoped he wouldn’t bring it up around Francis at dinner.

He did, of course.

Every week, they tried to have dinner together at least once as a family, mostly because Francis felt bad because he knew Arthur could not cook to save his life and felt bad for Alfred. Matthew usually would show up, but he had been coming up with lame excuses lately ever since he and Alfred went to visit colleges. He had also been bailing out on their ice cream plans as well. Alfred wanted ask him if everything was fine, but with Homecoming in only a day, he didn’t have much time to talk to him. He tried texting him a bunch of the time too, but he never got a reply.

“Can I see the pictures the student sent you?” Arthur asked at the dinner table. Francis looked over at Alfred with a curious expression.

“Wow, they sent you pictures? You must be quite the conversationalist, Alfred.” He said and Alfred smiled.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he couldn’t get the image of Kiku out of his head. With his picture he just seemed so much more…real? He couldn’t explain it well. “I’ll go get the pictures from my room.” Alfred stood up with his empty plate and put it in the dishwasher before heading up the stairs to his room.

He opened his backpack and fished around blindly for the envelope. Alfred made sure to put it in between the pages of the book he never touched, Henry IV. His hand made contact with the envelope and he slipped it from its spot between the book pages.

When he came back down, he immediately handed the photos over to Francis. He smirked at the annoyance that flashed in Arthur’s eyes. Arthur leaned over Francis’ shoulder to get a better look, Francis read the captions to each aloud as they saw them.

“Ugh, _le Japon est tres beau_. I’m jealous.” Francis uttered when he handed the photos back to Alfred. Arthur gestured for them and Alfred handed them over, still smirking.

Francis placed a hand on his shoulder. “It looks like you have made a friend. You should send him pictures back, n’est ce pas, Arthur?”

“English, but yes, he should. Pictures of Homecoming would seem fitting.” Arthur said as he stared down at the photos in his hand.

“By the way, who’s your date?” Francis asked, pulling Alfred close like he was going to tell him an important secret.

Alfred shrugged. “I’m going with Gilbert as friends.”

“Eh?!” Francis backed away to look at him. “You’re friends with that delinquent?”

Alfred nodded.

Arthur handed back the photos. “Out of all the people who asked you too,” he mumbled before walking past him and into the kitchen.

Alfred shrugged again. “It was less drama to go with a friend.”

Francis put a hand to his head, as if he were about to faint. “First, Matthew isn’t going and then you decide to go with a no good delinquent. Oh, where did we go wrong?” He looked over at Arthur who was coming back to the dining room with a cold beer in hand.

“Calm down, overdramatic frog.”

Francis scowled, but before he could say anything, Alfred spoke.

“Wait…Matthew isn’t going to Homecoming?”

Francis shook his head, a sad expression took over his face. “ _Non._ I don’t know what happened. He just stays in his room most of the time, unless its hockey or food. It’s so unlike him.” He sighed. “I’ve been trying to get him to come out and tell me what’s wrong, but eventually I just thought I should give him time.”

“I wonder what’s wrong…” Alfred mumbled. The thing was, he felt like he had something to do with it, but there was nothing he could think of. Alfred had been told many times by fellow classmates and friends that he was terrible at reading people and easily offended some, so he couldn’t help the worry that pooled inside his chest.

Cheers erupted from the crowd as Alfred made the final touchdown of the game. It was rare whenever he did that, a straight run for the end zone right after the snap. It was refreshing and when he made it, he couldn’t help but bask in the feeling of doing something so epic.

The team rushed towards him and a look of surprise made its way to Alfred’s face as they hoisted him onto their shoulders. Alfred threw his head back to the sky and grinned at no one in particular. He laughed, feeling the adrenaline drain from him. He couldn’t wait to get back to the house where he could relax for a few hours before the dance. He was also spending the night at Gilbert’s so they could work on the game a bit before college applications took over their lives.

When he came from the locker room he was greeted by both Arthur and Francis, who had a camera hanging around his neck. “Alfred, you were wonderful out there!” Alfred laughed as Francis pulled him into an embrace.

 Arthur smiled at him. “Good job, Alfred.”

“Thanks.” Alfred mumbled, ignoring the warmth spreading in his chest.

After that they left to Arthur and Alfred’s house, so he could relax his sore muscles before the dance.

 

Gilbert knocked on his door at about 5pm, he was dressed, well—differently. He cleaned up, wearing a suit that almost looked tailor-made to fit his body. It was a dark gray that contrasted his hair perfectly. His jacket buttoned up like a coat, with four buttons in the middle.

“I look awesome, right?” Was the first thing he said to the very startled Alfred.

“Yeah, dude. You look great.” Alfred rubbed his eyes. He may have just been napping in his nice suit. (Francis properly scolded him when he heard the doorbell though.)

Gilbert looked him up and down as well and Alfred was pretty sure he saw him bite his lower lip. “Wow, I’d say you look almost as awesome as I do.”

Alfred chuckled, it was such a Gilbert thing to say, but after spending so much time with him, he knew to take it as a compliment.

Francis came rushing to the door where they were standing, camera in hand. “You two look absolutely stunning!” He backed up, lifting the camera to his face. “Come on, one picture before we go.”

Gilbert awkwardly came inside and Alfred shut the door behind him. He threw an arm over Gilbert’s shoulder and grinned as the camera flashed.

“Great, now let’s get going.” Francis led them to his car. He was being forced to chaperone, so he volunteered to take photos of the entire night for Alfred’s next letter.

 

When they arrived they were prompted to enter a name for Homecoming Queen. Alfred scribbled down the first name that popped into his head, which unsurprisingly was Eva Zwingli, who was one of the nicest girls in the senior class.

Just as they were about to leave, Elizabeta walked in with her date. Alfred had to admit, the red dress she wore looked amazing on her, but just as he was going to say something, Gilbert grabbed him by the tie and dragged him to the dance floor.

The songs were pretty upbeat, just the type Alfred could move to. He urged Gilbert to dance with him, but he refused, resigning to only tap his foot and bob his head to the beat.

After a few songs and a few dances with random girls, Alfred met his friend back at the punch bowl. “I wish my brother would’ve came. They’re playing his favorite song.” He yelled over the music Gilbert in between sips of his punch.

Gilbert and he sat in silence for a few moments. Alfred leaned against the wall of the gym that was near the table, trying to save some energy for later during the slow songs. The game had really did a number on him.

Gilbert stuck out a hand to him. “Dance with me, Alfred.”

Alfred looked from his hand to his very serious face and stifled a laugh. “Okay,” he took his hand and let him lead him to the dance floor. Alfred wasn’t too keen on slow dancing, he was known for stepping on feet or worse, but since it was his friend asking, he thought why not. They got a couple of laughs out of it. Mostly everyone ignored them, too immersed in their own lives to care. Though they did get a few stares from time to time.

Gilbert lead him through the moves and it was fun, even when he stepped on Gilbert’s toes from time to time.

Soon after it was time to announce Homecoming king and queen. The principal got on stage, he was a very serious man, who always wore the same stoic expression, no matter the situation.

“It is now time to announce who your homecoming king and queen is,” the crowd erupted in cheers despite his bored tone. He opened up the envelope that was covered in glitter and read off the card. “This year’s Homecoming King is Alfred F. Jones.”

Alfred’s eyes widened in surprise. He could feel Gilbert coaxing him forward. He walked his way onto the stage, deafened by the shouting and whistling. Alfred could definitely hear a French accent somewhere in there.

Once he got on stage, they placed a cheap crown on his head and he grinned at the people before him. He waved to them in thanks.

When the cheering calmed down, the principal spoke once more. “And your Homecoming Queen is Elizabeta Hedervary.” There was more cheering as she made her way onto the stage with graceful steps. Alfred looked at the crowd to find Gilbert, but he was nowhere to be found.

They had a quick dance together, in which Elizabeta asked how Gilbert was taking things. Alfred said he was doing just fine, but he wasn’t so sure now.

Alfred searched the gym for Gilbert, but couldn’t find any sign of him. So he ran out of the gym and headed towards the bathroom.

Gilbert was there, of course, taking a piss. “Oh, hey,” he said, looking back. “Awesome crown.” He finished and zipped up his pants.

“Thanks.” Alfred replied. “So, wanna get out of here? I’m pretty beat and this thing’s going to die out soon.”

Gilbert smiled mischievously. “Sure. Back to my place, right?”

“I kind of wanted to stop by my brother’s place first. He lives about a street or two away from you.”

Gilbert nodded. “Alright then, we’ll meet back at my place.”

The two had left the dance and random students congratulated Alfred in the hallways. Gilbert stayed silent through it all, whistling to the tune of the muffled music of the gym.

They split up when they reached Matthew’s house.

“Before you go,” Gilbert stopped Alfred by grabbing his arm.

He looked back. “Yeah?”

Gilbert closed his eyes as he leaned in for a kiss. Alfred put a hand on his shoulder before he could accomplish anything. “Um, dude? What are you doing?”

Gilbert opened his eyes and he looked almost annoyed by his interruption. “Kissing you?” He said as if it were obvious.

Alfred couldn’t stop the blush from washing over his features. “Um, I thought we were just friends…”

“Not with the way you flirted with me when you were walking that pet—thing of yours.”

Alfred tilted his head to the side. “Pet thing…” Everything in his head began to click. “Oh... _oh no._ ”

Gilbert scoffed. ”What?”

“You thought Matthew was me, didn’t you?” He asked incredulously.

His friend swore under his breath. “I never met your brother…”

“Well, you did.”

“But I called you Alfred and everything."

“I’m pretty sure I would remember flirting with someone.” Alfred looked in the direction of Matthew’s house and it hit him just how shitty he felt. “I have to go fix this,” he mumbled before taking of in the direction of his house.

“Matty? Hey, Matt!” Alfred yelled, but received no answer. He took the liberty of running upstairs, he knocked on every door he could find until he heard a reply.

“Go away,” a small voice yelled.

Alfred leaned against the door. “Matty, please open up. I…I know what happened,” he swallowed. “If you don’t I’ll camp out in the hallway until Francis comes back and kicks me out…or something.” It was a bluff, of course. He was pretty sure he was going to collapse from all the running he just did before he could set up camp.

The door slowly opened and Alfred got up from the door. Matty walked away and sat on his bed. He wore a solemn expression.

Alfred sat beside him. “I’m sorry, Matty.”

“Mhm.”

“Why didn’t you tell Gilbert you weren’t me?” Matthew looked almost annoyed by his question and took several minutes before he gave him an answer.

“Because….ever since I’ve moved here that’s all someone ever does—mistake me for you—or just completely ignore me. The one time I happen to make a friend…it just so happens that he knows you and thinks I’m you…I sometimes wish that Francis would move us back to Canada. I miss my friends there.” Alfred had never heard Matthew speak for long periods of times, so he was taken back by his mini rant.

 “Uh…” Alfred wasn’t sure what to say, so he just stood up. “I’m sorry, Matty. I really am,” his blue eyes pleaded. He wasn’t exactly sure _why_ he was apologizing, technically he wasn’t doing anything wrong by existing, but it hurt him to see his brother like this. “Is there any way I can make it up to you?”

Matthew took his pillow into his arms and gave it a squeeze. “Nothing right now, Alfred. I just need some time to…I don’t know. I just _don’t._ ”

Alfred was torn between wanting to stay and fix it against Matty’s will and listening to his brother and hightailing it out of there. He took one look at Matthew, who wasn’t meeting his eye, but instead looked at the floor with a bored interest. He left without another word.

For the first time in a while, Alfred had experienced bad luck.

And it really fucking sucked.

_Earlier…_

“Kiku-kun?” Kiku turned around at the sound of Heracles’ voice. He had managed to make it the entire festival professionally, treating Heracles’ as if he were any other student. He knew this would happen during clean up. Kiku had imagined the conversation over and over again in his head and each time there was a different outcome.

“Yes, Heracles-san?” Heracles opened the door to the storage closet and motioned for Kiku to get in. He did, ignoring the thumping of his chest.

Heracles got in and shut the door, then reached up to turn the small light on. “You keep ignoring me, it’s cold.”

Kiku said nothing, only watched him, the sound of his rushing blood in his ear.

“Is it because of that one night? Like I said, we didn’t get very far. I would know if we did, trust me.” He placed a hand on Kiku’s head and messed up his hair.

“But,” he swallowed. “What did we do, Heracles-san?” Kiku asked, it was the one question burning in the back of his mind at all times.

He only remembered drinking with Heracles that day. Kiku was having one of his bad days that usually occurred during the summer vacation. He had nothing to do and soon his days were lapse into a mesh of time. Feliciano and Ludwig went back to visit their homes, but Heracles and stayed behind and offered him company.

He somehow had managed to find liquor and Kiku had to admit, he was curious. One drink led to another and he was sure he got ahead of himself. Soon enough they were both drunk out of their minds.

The next morning Kiku woke up with Heracles on top of him and he had marks—well, hickeys all over his neck. He even spotted them on Heracles’. In his embarrassment he hid away and shouted Heracles to leave, which he did, though mentioned that his memory was too fuzzy for him to remember what he did to make him so mad at him.

And thus, they ended up in the situation here, in the closet, staring at one another.

“Well, from what I can surmise from the marks on me…we just kissed and whatever.”

Kiku slapped him on the arm and Heracles flinched. Kiku was scary when he was mad. “ _Just kissed_?”

Heracles rolled his eyes, it was something Kiku had never seen him do. “It didn’t mean anything to me, if that’s what you’re worried about. I just want you to stop ignoring me. You’re my only friend.”

Kiku looked down at his hands. “That’s good. It didn’t mean anything to me either. I mean, I think you’re a lovely friend, but I don’t think I…like you in that way, I’m sorry.”

Heracles shook his head. “Don’t be, Kiku-kun. I want to be your friend again.” He gave a small smile and he took his hand off Kiku’s head.

Kiku smiled backed.

 _He had his friend again_ _._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you spot any errors, this was a pretty long chapter! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here or on my tumblr. Also, if you have something you would like to see in the fic, I'm always up to writing it! The next update should be out around next weekend~ Thanks to nekokeeks on tumblr and miss-lestrudel for beta reading!


	2. First Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I'm like almost a week late :3

_Dear Kiku Honda,_

_So, you want to learn about American dances? Well, I guess you’re in luck because my school just hosted Homecoming and my guardian was so impressed that he took pictures for me to send back to you! American dances are really just school functions in which people buy expensive clothing they are never going to wear again and dance. You’re encouraged to find a date, but I went with my friend. They have food there and it all depends on the school whether it’s decent or not. (Some schools even have chocolate fountains…I’m jealous.) Somehow, the students at my school thought I would make a great Homecoming King and voted for me, so I won and got a pretty neat crown to show off for it. The game was probably the best part about it all though. We won and they all thought I was the hero of the game and carried me on their shoulders at the end. I’ve never had that happen to me before, it was totally awesome!_

_I don’t really like reading much…unless its comic books. I have an entire collection of those at home. My favorites are Captain America, Superman, Wonderwoman, Supergirl and Iron Man. The shelves in my rooms are filled with comics! My guardian always tells me that I should get a better hobby, preferably one that doesn’t involve an hour long trip into the city to buy the latest issues. Maybe I’ll pick up that book you mentioned, Norwegian Wood, I looked it up online and it seems interesting enough. It may lack a few explosions, but I won’t knock it until I try it._

_By the way, I wanted to say thanks for the pictures! You’re extremely handsome and Japan seems like a wonderful place! My guardian says that I’m allowed to pick the next family vacation, so who knows? Maybe I’ll try to convince him that Japan seems like the perfect destination. That won’t be for a few months though, our winter break is always spent in Europe visiting distant family and locations. Spring Break is our usual vacation time. It’s a time that religious schools call Easter Break because it happens right around Easter and we get close to two weeks off. We get a lot of work to do during that time though, so sometimes it can ruin the fun._

_Anyway, how are things with school? You’re also in your last year like me, so it must be stressful. It’s getting into mid-fall and I still haven’t filled out any applications yet. I did get my SATs scores back though…let’s just say I’m not getting into Harvard anytime soon. If you don’t know the SATs are these tests we have to take and colleges use them to see whether we are a good fit for them or something like that._

_Your friend,_

_Alfred F. Jones._

_P.S – I’m the blonde kid and the guy with the really light hair is my friend, Gilbert._

Kiku smiled at the letter as he read Alfred’s closing. _Your friend._ Every time he read it, he felt a warmth spread over him. This Alfred was a very strange boy, but something about him was endearing.

He pulled out the photos and flipped through them.

The first was of two guys, Alfred and Gilbert, dressed in fine suits. It looked sufficiently awkward and Kiku could tell they were in a house from the interior. The house was huge compared to the ones Kiku had seen, but not as large as the houses owned by his uncles and father. _Gilbert and I being forced to take a picture before we left to the dance._

The next photo was of a gym, decorated and filled with nicely dressed students. Some stood around awkwardly, while others danced with one another in the middle. _Ah, school dances, where literally half the people don’t dance and just show up._

There was another of Alfred, with a crown on his head, smiling and waving to the people gathered around the stage he was on. There was a beautiful girl next to him, wearing a crown as well. _Somehow they thought making me Homecoming King was a good idea._

The last photo was not of the dance. It was taken on the field. Alfred was dressed in his football gear, getting lifted by what seemed to be his teammates. His eyes were closed, but his mouth open as if he were laughing. _One of the best days of my life…I was a hero!_

Kiku didn’t realize was smiling until he heard the curious whispers around him. He quickly cleared his throat and attempted to put away his photos, but was stopped by a voice behind him.

“Looks like you penpal is one of a kind Kiku-kun.” Kiku turned to find Mr. Peter smiling down at him.

“Y-yes, I suppose so,” he spoke back in English. He had recently began to speak to the teacher in English, as his tutor encouraged him to use his time with English speakers as a time to practice. He was still embarrassed by his heavy accent, but Mr. Peter  had told him he was glad a student was attempting to become fluent. Kiku looked from his teacher and back to the envelope he held in his hands. He smiled, remembering Alfred’s kind words. They had only had a few correspondences, but he already felt some sort of attachment to him. Maybe it was his nature as an introverted “loner” in which he clung to anyone who spoke to him whenever he wanted to.

 The teacher put a hand on his shoulder, ripping Kiku’s gaze from the envelope back to his teacher. He was still smiling. “Would you like to ask your questions now, Kiku? I know you usually have student counsel right after clean-up and I wouldn’t want to keep you for too long,” he asked him in English.

Kiku began to wiggle the letter into the envelope. “Yes, thank you.”

He spent the remainder of his class time going over idiomatic phrases, but he noticed that he was spending less and less time on them than usual. It gave him a sense of pride. He was glad his hard work of almost three years was finally paying off. 

Kiku was leaving the student council meeting when he was met by Heracles. He was leaning against the wall, as per usual, with his uniform looking disheveled—like he had slept in it. “Hey, Kiku-kun.”

Kiku turned to face him. He was glad the meeting was over early, so he wouldn’t be late catching the train home. “Heracles-san, nice seeing you around.” He hadn’t seen him lately and only caught glimpses of him in the hallway. He was busy with basketball, since the Winter Cup preliminaries were in about a week. It was the first time the team had made it that far into the Inter High to qualify for the Winter Cup, so Heracles was training himself and the rest of the team the hardest he ever had to.

“I decided to slip out of practice for a moment and catch you before you went home,” he had a faint smile on his mouth.

Kiku shouldered his bag and smiled back politely. “That’s no good Heracles-san. Your team needs you, you know that.”

“Scolding me for wanting to see my only friend, Kiku-kun? That’s cold.” Heracles left his spot against the wall and walked over to him. He put a hand on his shoulder. Kiku didn’t shrink away from his touch. “Are you going to see us play at the Winter Cup?”

“If you get pass the preliminaries, then I’ll consider it,” he said. As much as he wanted to support his friend, he didn’t really like going to sports games. It was too loud, too packed and just too much for him without him wanting to lock himself in his room for a few days just to recharge.

Heracles smirked. “Then you better start planning. I don’t plan on losing this year.” It was so strange to hear those works come from Heracles’ mouth, Kiku blinked to assure himself he wasn’t asleep. The Heracles he knew tried his best and his best was good, but he never trained as hard as the others. Kiku wasn’t sure if the burden of being captain was finally pushing him to try harder or if this was Heracles’ evil twin.

“I should probably get back before the coach realizes I’m gone. The last time I got caught, the laps he gave me cut into my nap time.” The weight of his hand was lifted from Kiku’s shoulder as he turned into the direction of the gym and left him there.

Kiku turned wishing Heracles all the luck so he didn’t get caught and headed to the train station.

 

"Kiku? Are you okay, Kiku?”

“What?” Kiku muttered absently mindedly in his native tongue as he realized he was staring down at an open copy of A Tale of Two Cities. His gaze shifted to his instructor, who was pacing the classroom with their own open book. They looked down at him and gave him a knowing smile. “Sorry,” he apologized in English. His cheeks were dusted with pink.

“It’s fine, Kiku. Is there anything on your mind? You’re a little spaced out today,” Victoria crouched down, resting her head on the desk. She smiled up at Kiku.

Kiku smiled back nervously, embarrassed with his current situation. “I’m a little tired. I spent all night writing the letter back to my penpal and doing some research.”

“How are things going with him? You said his name was Alfred, right?”

Kiku relaxed visibly. “Yes and it’s going very well. We even sent each other photos. I sent him photos of a school festival and in return he sent me some from his school dance called ‘Homecoming’.” He tried not to remember Alfred’s comment about him being handsome. He hadn’t really noticed it the first time around, but after rereading it the night before, he couldn’t stop blushing.

“Have you considered asking your teacher for the permission to contact him outside of the letters? Maybe on Skype? I think it would be beneficial to learn the dialect that way,” he could tell from the look in her eyes that wheels were turning and she was cooking up some sort of plan.

“N-(No, I haven’t.” Kiku half hoped that she would drop the subject and just forget about it, but that wasn’t his tutor’s style.

“Aha!” She sprung up from where she crouched. For a moment she lost balance due to her heels, but eventually she straightened herself and smiled down at him once more. “I’ll write a letter to your English teacher then and have him speak to the other teacher and work something out.”

Of course, she didn’t ask how Kiku felt about it, he didn’t expect her to anyway. Instead he just nodded and gave her the information she needed. She instructed him to read to her as she wrote the letter, sometimes interjecting to ask a question about his reading.

It wasn’t a bad book. It was difficult to understand at times, with the language being from such a long time ago and one needed the historical context to really get the story, but overall Kiku really enjoyed it. He didn’t understand the fascination of the teacher with Sydney Carton, he much preferred the politeness and perfection of Charles Darnay, though he did find Charles to be quite troublesome in regards to his ability to find himself at the mercy of the court so many times over the course of one book. 

She interrupted him once she was finished, passing the letter him and letting him get out of his lessons early for the day. He thanked her and quickly left so he could start his small binge of manga, anime and maybe the occasional video game.

Either way, it was going to be an okay day, despite the looming threat of exams in about a month and the impending visit of relatives to check up on him.

He would reread his letter to Alfred first though, checking to see if he had made any obvious or embarrassing mistakes. Kiku was making less and less of those now and could even think in English, though sometimes he would be at a loss for a word he couldn’t quite remember.

_Dear Alfred F. Jones,_

_Your last letter was very comical! I really enjoyed reading it. I’ve never gotten into American comics, I have mostly read manga, which is essentially the Japanese version of comics. Ours are black and white and get published together in magazines then in volumes. They are also read differently, instead of left to write it is right to left. Sometimes I buy English versions of manga I like and read the translations, but I think I will now look into buying some comics. I think I will start with Supergirl, since she is the one I have heard of the least. I think after that I will read Superman and Captain America._

_Thank you so much for the pictures! I did not think I would get any back, but I am happy I did. You and your friend looked very nice. Also, congratulations on winning the game and becoming King! It sounds very cool._

_I am also very flattered that you would consider visiting Japan during the spring. I would not mind showing you around Osaka. It is known for its delicious food. I have always wanted to go to places like Europe and the Americas and I hope to one day. I have considered studying abroad and even going to a university overseas, but I am not entirely confident in my abilities in the English language. The last thing I would want is to make a fool of myself by taking on a task I know I will fail at._

_That brings me to school. It has been very boring lately. We have our college entrance exams coming very soon. I am very nervous to take them as they decide what schools we can attend. My teachers and peers are sure I can get into any top university due to how much time I spend studying, but I can’t help but think I may mess it up. I don’t know if that is too personal, I am sorry if it is._

_This brings me to the awkward topic, you’ll probably already know this, but my English tutor thinks it will be beneficial for me to communicate with you over something like Skype. I hope my English isn’t too bad for you! I wonder what will happen if we do…what will happen to our letters? Whatever happens, I really enjoy writing you, Alfred, my long distance friend!_

_Your Friend,_

_Kiku Honda_

Alfred chuckled as he put down the letter. The last paragraph was well…kind of cute. He wondered how it came to this. They were about two or three months into writing one another and they were making plans to visit one another and now they were going to talk after school via Skype. Alfred was nervous when Arthur had asked to speak to him after class because he expected it to be about that one football scout that was interested in Alfred and offered him a scholarship to play for a D1 school.

Alfred had told the man he would think about it and he only had about two weeks before he gave him an answer. Arthur thought he was a fool for not taking the offer. “Alfred, isn’t this what you wanted? You’ve been playing this sport for years! I spent so much on getting you into the top footballs camps and on hospital bills, it would be ridiculous not to take it,” he was pacing like he normally did when he was angry, a trait he an Alfred both shared.

Alfred leaned against his desk, cursing his luck that this was the last class of the day and no threat of the bell or students loomed over them. He chewed on his lower lips, staring down at the floor with vague interest. The pattern reminded him of the lava game he played at the supermarket when he was younger. Jump into the colored squares, but if you fell into the white you “died”.

“Alfred, are you even listening?”

“I don’t know what I want really. I mean, I like football, but you know what happens with D1 college football…” Alfred took in a deep breath. He had to plan what he wanted to say, he couldn’t let anything he didn’t want to slip out. “I just don’t want to waste my time taking Basket Weaving 101 while I try to get some NFL team to notice me.”

“Well…I…just…Alfred!” Alfred left Arthur grasping for words as he left to go anywhere that wasn’t, well, there.

 

So he was surprised that Arthur actually wanted to talk about something else for a change.

“So, I was contacted by the other teacher—“

“You mean your brother—“Alfred interjected, he had brought up the subject of Arthur’s brother to Arthur a while ago and he told him that Peter was too much his opposite for them to get along well.

“Whatever. Well, he was wondering if you were okay with Skyping your penpal about once a week. He knows English well enough, his parents apparently got him a private tutor and everything. I guess he just wants to be able to speak as much as he can for practice.”

Alfred didn’t think before he answered. “Sure, I’ll do it.”

He wasn’t supposed to call him until later due to the time difference between them. It was about 13 hours, if he remembered correctly. He had dinner at Francis’ house tonight anyway. Matthew began to show up to dinner,but instead of taking his usual seat next to Alfred, he sat between Francis and Arthur. The two guardians seemed to take notice, but did not comment probably for Matthew’s sake. Alfred tried not to take it personally, he wanted to give Matty all the space he needed in order for him to be forgiven. It’s not like he didn’t have his own plans to speed up the process, but they were still what they were: plans.

Alfred jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry,” he heard a familiar voice mutter. “The bell rang and you were just sitting there, staring off into space so…”

“Don’t be. Thanks, Toris.” He smiled at the boy before him.

Toris was the friendly manager of the football team. He took care of the teams needs and was rarely thanked for it. Alfred always offered his help, but Toris would just smile. “It’s my job, Alfred. You just do your best on the field.” Outside of football practices and games, the two didn’t talk to each other much.

Alfred stood from his desk. English was his last period of the day and Arthur was already gone from the classroom and off to some faculty meeting. He was just about to leave, when Toris made a sound between “stop” and “wait.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s…it’s nothing,” he said, not looking at Alfred.

Alfred cocked up an eyebrow and shouldered his backpack. “Are you sure? Do you need any help?”

Toris sighed and sat down at a desk. Alfred followed suit, taking a desk and turning it so that it faced Toris. He sat down, watching the other anxiously. Toris’ blue eyes looked down at his hands in his lap.

“It’s just…do you know Ivan Braginsky?”

Alfred shifted in his seat. “Yeah,” he said slowly.

Everyone knew Ivan Braginsky, he was just about the weirdest kid in the senior class and almost everyone tried their best to avoid him. Alfred was generally pleasant around him, they occasionally shared a conversation or two about space and if it got too creepy, he always managed to find a way out of there. 

“Well, I think he’s taken a _special_ interest in me.”

“Why would you say that?”

“He’s tried to walk me home about three times this week and yesterday…he showed up at my house.” He whispered the last part and gave Alfred an unsettling look. That wasn’t weird at all, it was creepy and, in Alfred’s books, he was a borderline stalker. “Feliks can’t do anything about it because he somehow managed to get himself detention for the next month for pulling that stunt with the ducks in the teacher’s lounge and aside from him, you’re one of the people I know that can deal with him, my other friends are too scared.”

Alfred stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “Then what are we waiting for? I’ll get that creep off your back.”

Toris met his gaze and smiled. “Thank you so much, Alfred.”

“It’s no problem. One question though…where do you live?”

Toris laughed. “We live on the same street, actually.”

“Really?” Alfred asked incredulously. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I mean we’ve never talked outside football, so I wouldn’t expect you to know,” he replied.

The pair headed off, leaving the school behind them and finding their way home.

“Hey, Alfred?”

Alfred turned his attention to his friend. “Yeah?”

“Did you think about the deal with the scout? I mean, the entire team’s been talking about it.”

Oh that, again. Alfred shifted uncomfortably, he couldn’t stop the small irritation that rose in him when someone brought it up. “I’ve thought about it, but I still don’t know.”

“That’s fine. It’s a tough decision. I think you deserve it though—not the tough decision part—but, the recognition and offer.”

Alfred laughed nervously. “Thanks.”

“I can tell you’ve been playing for quite some time and that you really love the game. I just feel like that’s pretty rare these days. Most people are just interested in becoming good for the money and scholarships. It’s refreshing, I guess that’s what I’m trying to say.”

Alfred didn’t know what to say, so he was glad when he saw their street come into view. He noticed a distant figure waiting outside of someone’s house. “I think that’s him.”

Toris nodded. “See? I don’t know what to do…”

Alfred grinned. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”

The pair edged to the house, feigning conversation about the book they had been reading in English. They completed ignored Ivan as they reached his front door.

“Hey guys,” he greeted them from behind.

Toris visibly straightened, but Alfred remained cool. “Oh, hey, Ivan,” he turned around to face him. He had a casual look to him, as if this were any other day and like he hadn’t just been caught waiting outside of someone else’s house.

“Alfred, it is so nice to see you.” Alfred had the feeling he didn’t really mean it.

“Nice to see you too. What brings you here?” He asked politely.

“I was waiting for my friend here, Toris.”

Toris gripped his backpack strap until his knuckles were white.

“Well,” Alfred started before Toris did something he’d regret. “I’m glad I found you. Did you see the new volumes the library brought in about black holes?”

Ivan’s eyes lit up at the mention of space. “What?”

“Yeah, the library got all of these volumes that are just filled with theories on black holes and the history and research behind them.” Alfred feigned disappointment. “I saw them, but I couldn’t get any of them out because one of my books is long overdue…”

“Don’t worry! I will study them for both of us,” he replied, practically jumping from the announcement. “In fact, I will go check them all out now.”

Alfred grinned. “That’s great! Let me know how they were on Monday.”

Ivan nodded before taking off.

Once he was no longer in ear shot, Toris spoke. “Were you telling the truth? About the books, I mean.”

Alfred nodded, watching Ivan leave and sighed. “I really wanted to get my hands on those first, but it was worth it. He’ll be reading those for weeks.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry if I caused any trouble,” the boy apologized.

Alfred grinned. “It wasn’t a problem. Let me know if he bothers you again, ‘kay? Here’s my number just in case.” He took a sharpie from his pocket (a terrible habit that he had since he was a child, Arthur had scolded him many times for neglecting to take them out before putting them in the washer) and waited for Toris to pull out a small stack of sticky notes. He scribbled down his number and handed it back.

“Would you like to come in for coffee or tea? My parents don’t come home until late, so don’t worry, you won’t be questioned to death or anything.”

Alfred chuckled. He had time to kill before he went to Francis’ anyway. “Sure.”

All the houses on the street nearly all looked the same, old Victorian style on the outside, but with a fresh, modern interior. Not Toris’ though, it had old wooden floors that creaked despite Alfred’s attempts to keep his footsteps light and faded wallpaper decorated the walls of almost every room. The furniture looked a little ancient, with two handmade rocking chairs and a sofa that Alfred was pretty sure he would break if he sat in it. The smell of the house even gave the impression of age, it was a mixture of dust and antique, with a small hint of sandalwood.

“Take a seat on the couch and I’ll go make the-?”

“Tea, please.” Alfred liked coffee, but he usually reserved it for waking up when he was up all night doing assignments or playing games. He liked tea well enough, for the fact that he was basically raised off of it by Arthur.

Alfred (gingerly) took a seat on the pinstripe couch and waited for Toris to make the tea. He came out not too long after, but in the meanwhile Alfred checked his phone for any messages. As usual, Gilbert was blowing up his phone. He had gone from making sense, to just sending a bunch of question marks and emojis.

Toris set the tray down on the round coffee table in front of the couch. “I made English Breakfast.”

“It’s one of my favorites. Thanks, man.”

Toris took a seat next to him on the couch. “If there’s anything I can do to repay the favor…”

Alfred waved him off. “There’s no need. Though…I suppose you could help me with something…”

 

After dinner at Francis’ house, Alfred raced up the stairs to his room. He had about thirty minutes before he called Kiku, so he had time to prepare.

As per usual, his room was as chaotic as his week. With practice and homework to keep him busy, his free time was extremely limited during the week. In between study sessions and assignments (and not to mention all the college applications), he would allow himself to read the latest issue of his favorite comics. Sometimes he would even get an hour or so to play a retro game he picked up when he and Arthur went into town last weekend. That meant, he spent little to no time cleaning.

Quickly, he ran about his room, straightening the covers—or “making his bed” as he called it. He hid the clothes he had strewn around in his small closet off to the side and his food wrappers were casually stuffed under the bed, with the false promise that he would pick them up later. The only things he was gentle with was his comics, which he had set in a container under his bed.

Alfred spent the rest of his time making himself look semi-presentable and by “presentable” he meant throwing on a sweatshirt over his severely stained shirt and a quick smoothening of his hair. He wrestled with his contacts for a moment, trying his best for them not to dry out—Arthur was getting sick of having to buy extras every time they visited the eye doctor.

Finally, he managed to sit at his computer desk and start up his laptop. Alfred wasn’t necessarily surprised that when he checked his Skype; Kiku was already online and probably waiting. He seemed like the diligent, responsible type compared to Alfred who was what he believed to be the middle of diligent and careless.

 _Ready?_ He shot the first message to Kiku.

Almost a second later he received a reply. _Yes._

Shocked by the formality (Alfred was too used to informal speech, he had recently been lectured by Arthur on his improper use of the world literally in a paper), he found himself calling him anyway.

 

Kiku almost immediately picked up. He had spent most of his morning preparing in front of a mirror. He practiced basic responses and tried his best to speak in long drawn out sentences without thinking too much about it. Kiku still stuttered a lot when he thought of things to say (especially when he hesitated and worried over the minor details) and he spoke relatively slowly so he wouldn’t mispronounce anything. His teacher and tutor reassured him that it was fine, he had managed to get passed one of the hardest parts, which was already thinking in English without realizing it. All he had to do was become comfortable speaking with others.

Kiku was greeted by a screen full of shifting green fabric.

“Uh…” he started before noticed that it was Alfred, who promptly sat down at the sound of his voice.

“Sorry,” he said. “I was getting my headset.” He waved with his headset in hand and then put them on. Alfred grinned once he was finished adjusting the microphone.

Kiku politely smiled back and tried to ignore how much his hand was shaking. “It’s fine.”

“It’s nice to finally talk to you, Kiku. Uh…Kiku?”

Kiku couldn’t take his eyes off the screen. Alfred’s eyes were like the color of the sky, something he hadn’t seen in the pictures since they were taken farther from his face. “Beautiful…” he mumbled without thinking.

Alfred furrowed his brows. “Huh?”

Color rushed onto Kiku’s face. “Oh, sorry. I just—your eyes. They are very b-beautiful.” It was embarrassing to have to repeat it, but Alfred didn’t seem to notice.

“Thank you. I get that a lot. Maybe one day someone will write a poem about them,” he chuckled. Kiku did too and hoped he got what Alfred had meant.

“But, it is nice to speak to you too, Alfred. I’m sorry if I sound weird or anything—“

Alfred cut him off. “Don’t apologize for it, dude! You’re starting to sound like my brother, the Canadian.”

Kiku giggled and felt himself relax a little. “You have a Canadian brother?”

“Well, he’s my twin brother and we were both born in America, but we were separated as children so he grew up in Canada and picked up on their signature politeness, I guess.”

“That sounds interesting. Do you see each other a lot?”

“Yeah! Actually, he moved down here for my last year of high school because his guardian found a job at my school teaching. Before that, we did what we’re doing now,” he spoke quickly and animated, as if he were telling some sort of epic adventure, using his hands to act things out.  

Kiku wasn’t entirely new to it, Feliciano was similar in his way of speaking and flailed even when it was to answer a simple question. In person he found it to be troublesome, but he actually enjoyed watching Alfred talk.

“How about you, Kiku? Got any siblings?”

Kiku shook his head. “No, I’m an only child.”

“Oh? So it’s just you and your parents?”

He shook his head again. “My father’s away on business, so it’s just me.” Kiku decided not to mention his mother, but Alfred glossed over that detail to Kiku’s surprise.

“That’s sounds so cool—living by yourself and all! Sometimes I wish I did. But, don’t you get lonely?”

He was a little thrown by the blond’s question. Kiku considered himself to have major tunnel vision and maybe he could confess to being a borderline workaholic when it came to school and his responsibilities. He did have times like during his vacations where he did feel lonely and a little left out, but he decided not to mention it.

“I—not really, no. I have friends at school and we occasionally meet outside of school.”

“Not bad. Arthur, my guardian, would never go for it though. He doesn’t really think I’d do very well on my own.” Kiku wasn’t really sure if that was for him to hear, so he didn’t reply and let him continue. “By the way, Kiku. Why did you want to learn English? I mean, I can see why it’s useful, but most people have specific reasons.”

He was a little thrown by the shift in conversation. “W-well, I’m supposed to take over the family company in the future and most of our business is done in North America and Europe, but most of our partners are from America.”

“Whoa, so will you be famous one day?” Alfred asked with complete sincerity.

Kiku wanted to laugh. “Not really, as you can see not many business men are famous.”

Alfred waved him off. “Don’t say that, look at Bill Gates!”

“Didn’t Bill Gates invent the Windows?” Kiku wasn’t a computer geek, but he did know his technology.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right.” The look on Alfred’s face looked almost like one of defeat. Kiku giggled into his hands.

Alfred perked up. “Hey! What’s so funny?” He asked not unkindly. He was giggling now too.

Alfred must have been just as nervous despite his confident, laid back appearance.

“You are very funny, Alfred.” As his giggles subsided he looked over at the time. It was the weekend and there was no doubt the subway would be packed with tourists. “I have to go catch my train, will talk again soon?”

“How about when you come back?”

Kiku considered it. “Won’t you be asleep?”

Alfred waved him off again. “No way, I usually stay up really late during the weekend.”

“If it is okay with you…”

“Then, it’s a date!”

Kiku was taken back by his statement. “Huh?”

Alfred chuckled. “It’s a…figure of speech. Not an actual date.”

He felt blush creep onto his cheeks. “Oh, yeah. Well, I am going to go now. See you soon, Alfred.”

“See ya!” The last thing he saw Alfred’s smile before he hung up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading! The next chapter should be out around Sept. 11-13. Comments/Kudos are appreciated and thank you for all the support you all left on the first chapter~ 
> 
> Let me know if there is something you want to see!


	3. Chitter Chatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred is, like, two steps away from becoming a DC fixer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I disappeared for a while. School sucks, doesn't it? Anyway, here's chapter 3 of Penpals. I swear, this is becoming an unintentional novel. Also, I suck at naming chapters

"Alfred,” Toris started slowly. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

Alfred rolled his eyes. “Duh, I know those two like the back of my hand. Okay, maybe not Gilbert, but that’s because that guy can be seriously unpredictable. Especially if you wound his pride.”

The pair were making their way through the park after hours. Toris kept glancing over his shoulder, afraid that the police would show up any minute. Alfred, on the other hand, walked around like he owned the place, not even attempting to crouch and be sneaky like Toris.

They passed the small path and headed further in, until it was just rolling hills filled with a variety of trees from the town’s mission for a better environment. Alfred remembered planting one with Gilbert his freshman year of high school. They ended up getting a C for a participation grade because they decided to throw dirt around.

“By the way, when does Feliks’ detention end?” Alfred asked in a nonchalant tone.

Toris couldn’t believe he was trying to make small talk while they were trespassing. “Well, from what he told me, he won’t be done serving until Winter Break,” he whispered.

“Really? I thought he only had a couple of weeks? Also, stop whispering, my hearings not that great, especially with this wind…I should’ve worn something more than a sweatshirt.”

“He,” he began to whisper, but then caught himself. “He decided it would be an okay idea to lock the proctor out of the classroom when they left to go fetch something from the teacher’s lounge.”

Alfred shook his head. “Your friend never learns.”

“Tell me about it.”

They climbed the tallest hill, Alfred picked it because he knew he would remember it later just in case. When they reached the top, Alfred spoke. “Toss me the lights, we don’t have much time before Matty goes to sleep.”

Toris looked confused. “He goes to sleep this early on the weekend?” He tossed the bundle of Christmas lights to Alfred which he caught without much effort.

“Well, yeah. He’s just really responsible, it’s creepy, I know.” The two went to work, setting up the hill so that it worked out like they had planned. They laid out a small blanket once they finished hanging the lights up in the trees.

“Why the blanket?”

Alfred shrugged. “I’m pretty sure they both wouldn’t appreciate grass stains on their clothes.”

Toris nodded in understanding.

Now that they were all set, it was time to put the plan into motion. Alfred pulled out his phone and texted Gilbert.

To: Gilbert

Meet me @ the park??? The tallest hill…need 2 talk 2 u…

From: Gilbert

Tf???? It’s late af

From: Gilbert

…but I’ll go since I’m so awesome :p

Alfred tried not to roll his eyes, though he was secretly glad that Gilbert wasn’t pissed at him for avoiding him. After he confirmed with Gilbert, he dialed Matthew’s number.

He didn’t pick up until the third ring.

“Al?” Matthew couldn’t hide his confusion in his tone. He sounded tired, as if he were about to go to bed.

“Uh…Matty? I know it’s late, but I really need a ride home from the park.”

There was a brief silence on the other end that made Alfred a tad bit nervous. “Isn’t the park closed? Did you sneak out?” His tone rose at the last part.

“Yes and yes.” He lied about sneaking out. Arthur thought he was staying the night over Toris’ house (which he was, but that was beside the point).

He heard his twin sigh on the other end. “Fine, just meet me outside of the park. I’ll be right there.”

Once he hung up, Alfred looked over at Toris, who shivered whenever the wind blew. “Sorry for dragging you out here and helping me kidnap my brother.”

Toris gave a small smile as he tugged at his sleeves and pulled them down over his hands. “It’s fine, Alfred. Really. Well, as long as we don’t get caught by the police.”

“Well, shall we take our places?” Toris nodded at his suggestion.

Alfred stayed behind as Toris left to meet Matthew. He hid up in the tallest tree there was, which wasn’t very tall, but his dark clothing helped him blend in. He pulled his hood down to further cover his blonde hair. Damn the wind was making his contacts dry out. The branch he rested on protested under his weight, which made him feel a tad bit self-conscious and more than a little nervous.

About fifteen minutes had passed when he could hear two people running up the hill, the sound of their breathing quick and heavy.

“Al, are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere?” The voice he heard was definitely Matthew’s.

“Alfred, if you’re alive shout ‘Gilbert is awesome’!”

Toris made it up the hill first and ran through the trees and out of the center clearing as fast as he could.

“Where the hell did he go?” Gilbert asked, he was the second to arrive and Matthew followed shortly after. Alfred figured they may have managed to cross paths considering how close they lived near each other. It was a freaky coincidence, but plausible.

They made their way to the clearing, looking around as best as they could in the darkness.

“A blanket?” Gilbert bent down to pick it up, but Matthew slapped his hand, startling him enough to drop it.

“Sorry, but you never know if they…”

Gilbert groaned. “Ew.”

Alfred turned on the battery powered lights. Finding them was definitely a pain, he and Toris had nearly spent all Saturday morning going into the city to find them. They ended up finding it on some shady looking general shop for a cheap price.

The trees lit up with golden lights (Alfred wanted to make it a lot more colorful, but Toris stopped him, deeming actual Christmas lighting to be “unromantic”). Matthew jumped at the initial scare of the lights suddenly coming to life, but soon he put the pieces together.

“Ugh, Al. You’re so embarrassing,” he held his head in his hands and groaned.

Gilbert was still clueless and he looked at Matthew almost pleadingly. “What’s going on?”

“Can’t you see? My moron brother brought us here in some attempt to…to…I don’t know.”

The realization finally crossed over Gilbert’s features. “Oh…you’re his brother. The one I flirted with.”  

“…Yeah,” he huffed out, crossing his arms over his chest. Matthew had left the house in only his pajamas and a knitted cardigan, so he was probably freezing worse than Alfred.

Gilbert sat there and even Alfred could feel the awkwardness between the two.

After about what felt like ten minutes of silence, Gilbert spoke up. “I guess an apology is in order…I’ve known Al all my life, you would think I would notice the differences between you two.”

“Apology accepted.” The Canadian stuck out a hand and Gilbert took it.

“You better,” he replied. “It’s not every day that an awesome person like me apologizes.” Alfred couldn’t believe his eyes. Was Gilbert blushing or was he just too tired and was seeing things?

Matthew laughed. So apparently Alfred wasn’t very funny to him (it took a lot of effort to make Matty laugh at his jokes), but Gilbert’s ego was? Alfred resisted the urge to reveal himself.

“Say, Matty?”

“Matty?” Matthew cocked an eyebrow up at him.  

Gilbert shrugged. “It fits.” He continued after taking a deep breath. “Would you…like to start over again?”

Matthew smiled. “I would like that, Gil.”

Now it was Gilbert’s turn. “Gil? Ugh, no wonder you two are brothers. You both have a shitty taste in nicknames.”

The Canadian chuckled.

Alfred was going to leave the two alone, when he realized a flashing in the distance.

“Fuck,” he nearly fell out of the tree. He began to run past them and down the hill. “It’s the cops,” he yelled so hopefully Toris would hear.

He was going to leave using the side exit, but he realized that Matthew was parked out front. Damn it, he didn’t really plan out an escape, did he?

Eventually the four all managed to meet each other some distance from the entrance.

“Okay, how about we just leave the car here? That way not all of us get in trouble.” Alfred suggested slyly.

Matthew protested. “Wait! I am not going down because you decided to be dramatic, Alfred.”

Alfred rolled his eyes. “It was worth a shot. Give me the keys, I’ll take full responsibility for it since it was my plan.” He extended his hand waiting for the keys.

His brother hesitated. “But, won’t you get in a lot of trouble with Arthur? He’s not as understanding as Francis…”

Alfred waved off his concern. “I’ve dealt with Arthur since I was eight, I think I can handle him now just fine.” He snatched the keys from Matthew’s grasp, leaving his friends behind to leave while he covered. When he reached the gate, he looked back to see his friends were long gone. Unfortunately for him, the officer was already parked and out with his flashlight at the gate.

“Having a good night, officer?” He asked and couldn’t ignore the slight quiver of his voice. He had put up a front for his brother and friends, in truth he was pretty damn scared, but didn’t want to show it.

The officer grunted in response. “Should have known it would be a teenager.” They scowled at Alfred once they got the gate open. “Where do you think you’re going? You’re going to remove those lights, then we’re going to go pay a visit to your parents.”

Alfred sighed heavily in response. He forgot to turn those off.

Well, at least everyone else got away, he told himself.

 

 

Arthur closed the front door behind him and then turned around to glare at Alfred.

“Alfred…” Arthur started, barely containing the anger in his voice. He closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to control himself.

“I know, I know. I won’t do it again. It was a stupid one-time thing and it won’t happen again. Oh and I’m sorry for waking you up so late.” Alfred listed off the things he planned to say while riding in the back seat of the cop car. He wasn’t in any trouble with the law, but the office said next time he would be. He didn’t mean for all of them to slip out at once, but he never saw Arthur get so mad at him before, it was frightening. Then again he had never gotten in trouble with the law…

“Just go to your room, we will speak about this in the morning,” his eyes snapped open and he looked expectantly at a very surprised Alfred. “Well,” he said, motioning to the staircase.

Alfred opened his mouth and then closed it. He was expecting, well, more from the older man.

Not wanting to push his luck, Alfred went up the stairs, taking a curious glance behind him to see if Arthur followed him. Instead, he heard the TV turn on and the sound of ice going into a glass. Alfred tried his best to push the guilt he felt away. That’s just what Arthur gets for having such high expectations of him, right?

He kicked off his shoes when he reached his room and settled on his bed. Alfred checked his phone. Toris and Gilbert texted him their thanks and pity while Matthew had tried to call him several times. Alfred hesitated to call him and in the end decided to let the younger brother sleep.

 

 

The first thing he heard the next morning were voices.

“Alfred, mon ange, can I come in? I brought you breakfast.” Alfred groaned into his pillow and reached blindly for his glasses on his nightstand. Once he had them sat up and put them on. He made sure to cover his lower half with his quilt.

“Open up,” he said as he stretched.

Francis took almost no time rushing into his room with a tray of food. Matthew trailed behind him, with his hands in his jean pockets. He rarely stayed over Alfred’s house—usually Alfred would stay over Francis’ because of its lack of Arthur. Also, Francis’ cooking was miles better than Arthur’s so he was easily swayed.

Francis set up the foldable breakfast tray over him before taking a seat at the side of his bed. He smiled brightly at the boy.

Alfred stared the array of food before him—all of his favorites (though Matthew would usually say that all food was Alfred’s favorite). He then stared at Francis and shifted his gaze to Matthew. His brother looked slightly embarrassed, but he wore a small smile when his eyes met his brothers.

Francis reached over and ruffled Alfred’s hair. “When Arthur called me about Matthew’s car he told me everything and I couldn’t believe it…I wasn’t really angry or anything—just surprised. I mean, I knew if you needed it, you would have just asked so that’s when I asked Matthieu here and he told me everything.”

Oh, Alfred thought. Thanks why he was blushing.

Alfred knew his brother was gay—but not everyone else. Mostly because Alfred had admitted his attraction to both men and women first like it was no big deal. The twins never actually got around to telling their guardians, they didn’t really think they would freak out, so it wasn’t worrying for Alfred. Only close friends knew and by that he meant Gilbert.

“If you needed help you should have just asked me, I knew plenty of places to set him up with that delinquent.”

“Papa, don’t call him that.” Matthew quietly slipped in and Alfred saw his face go redder.

“Désolé Matthieu,” he replied almost reluctantly.

Alfred furrowed his brows. “What about Arthur?”

“He went out, I told him what really happened and you know him, stubborn as ever.” Francis rolled his eyes. “Can’t admit he’s wrong even when the proof is right in front of him.” Alfred felt as if he wasn’t just talking about the current situation, the way his blue eyes looked past him instead of at him.

“Yeah, he was pretty angry at me last night. He could barely even look at me.” Alfred said, remembering the way he slowly closed his eyes and dismissed him to his room.

Francis stood up from the bed. “Do not worry about it, mon ange. He just wants the best for you and doesn’t want you mess it up like someone else he cared for once, before you and Matthieu came into our lives.”He ruffled his hair once more. “I will be downstairs preparing dinner for tonight if you need me.”

Alfred nodded and watched him as he left the room, leaving him and his brother alone.

“So, I’m assuming he took it well?” Alfred asked as Matthew took the place that Francis previously occupied on his bed.

Matthew nodded, the pink flush from earlier slowly leaving his face. “He was perfectly fine with it, though where we lived before it didn’t really matter…” He sighed. “So it makes sense. It was just awkward.”

“Yeah, I guess I can see that.”

“Ah, Alfred?” Matthew asked

“Yeah, Matty.”

“I’m sorry, for ignoring you. It’s not really your fault for other people’s mistakes and it wasn’t right to take it out on you.”

Alfred reached over his breakfast carefully, not wanting to spill his orange juice and lightly tapped Matthew on his shoulder with his fist. “It’s all water under the bridge, man.”

Matthew smiled. “Good, I’m glad.”

After Alfred had finished his breakfast, he and Matthew attempted to help Francis with preparations for dinner, but he promptly kicked them out and the pair settled on playing video games before Alfred went to practice.

Practice ran late into the evening, the coach was working them harder than usual ever since they managed to make into the playoffs for the first time in years. By the time Alfred had reached the locker room, he was drenched in sweat and pretty sure he was going to pee Gatorade.

“I feel like my limbs are going to fall off.” Alfred remarked as he met up with Toris who was gathering the player’s laundry bags and putting it into his car.

“You guys practiced hard today. I’ve never seen the coach so worked up,” he replied.

Alfred joined in packing the trunk. Toris made a move to stop him, but ultimately looked at him and sighed, but he couldn’t hide the smile that tugged the corner of his lips. Alfred shrugged, feigning sheepishness. “I can’t help it, I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t overwork yourself, you’ve been moving around nearly all day.” Toris sounded like a scolding parent, but he didn’t mind.

Alfred waved him off. “You’ve worked just as hard. I saw you carrying the water cooler back and forth.”

“Seriously, you’re comparing those two things?” Toris said as they finished packing the trunk.

“Eh, same difference.”

“Well, would you like a ride home? I’m sure your muscles will appreciate a break.”

Alfred shrugged. “Sure thing.”

They sat in silence for the first have of the ride until Toris decided to broach the subject it seemed he had been wanting to for a while. “Uh, Alfred? I don’t want to pry…but did everything turn out alright last night? I felt so bad…I’m really sorry.”

Alfred shook his head and gave him a reassuring smile. “I actually didn’t really get into trouble. Matthew told Francis the truth and he told Arthur so I’m in the clear. So don’t feel bad, bro. I did it because it was _my plan_ in the first place. I also knew your parents would kill you if you managed to get caught.”

“I’m glad and yeah…they wouldn’t let me use the car for a week when I got caught in class with my phone thanks to Feliks. I can only imagine what would happen if I showed up at the door with a police officer. They would probably send me to Lithuania to live with relatives.”

Alfred chuckled. “Wow, that’s extreme. Arthur was so pissed that he just sent me to my room.” He tried not to remember the fact that Arthur probably went searching for all of his answers in glasses of whichever alcohol he preferred that night. It was rare for Alfred to feel guilty about something, especially when it pertained to Arthur, but he thought about Francis’ words for earlier.

“Here we are.” Toris dropped Alfred off in front of his house and he thanked him, promising to text him later.

 

“Long practice?” It was Francis’ voice he heard first from the living room. A movie played loudly in the background so he had to yell over it.

“You know you could just pause the film, frog,instead of yelling over it in that obnoxious tone.” Alfred tensed when Arthur spoke. It’s not like he expected him not to be home, but he had to admit he wasn’t ready to be confronted about last night. He made a beeline for the kitchen which was opposite of the living room.

Alfred heard the movie pause and someone walk in from behind. Alfred busied himself with looking into the fridge for nothing in particular.

“Mon ange? Are you okay?” It was Francis. He turned around to face him.

Alfred smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine. Practice was tough and I have some homework I neglected to do. It doesn’t help that I’m really tired.”

Francis put a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you take your dinner up to your room, hm? Matthew is still out with his _friend_ Gilbert and I’m sure Arthur wouldn’t mind if we had dinner alone.”

“Thanks, Francis.”

Francis winked. “Anytime, mon ange. Just remember I am always in your corner.”

He left Alfred and returned to the movie. Alfred gathered his dinner on a tray, as per usual, it was some French food he could barely pronounce, but it smelled good.

The first assignment he worked on was his letter to Kiku. The pair had decided to spend the rest of their times telling each other stories. They could be personal anecdotes, folktales, historical stories, _anything_. That was they wouldn’t be telling each other what they already know about one another.

_Dear Kiku Honda,_

_Today, I have decided to tell the “Duck Story,” which has now become one of the most notoriously funny events to ever take place in our school. You see the Duck Story has only one main character, but several—and boy, do I mean several—ducks._

_It is a tradition in American high schools to pull what we call a Senior Prank (a prank is like a joke, but a practical joke in which someone is the victim). Usually, the class plans it amongst themselves and it ends up being something small like filling the halls with confetti and balloons, but some take it to the extreme like…filling the teachers’ lounge with ducks._

_Like I said before, the class usually plans this thing together, but in our class we have this one troublemaker named Feliks. Feliks is some crazy Polish kid you do not want on your bad side. He’s pleasant when you’re on his good side though, well, mostly._

_Anyway, Feliks decides to pull his own senior prank because he thought the class’ idea was lame. (So, really, he just pulled a prank.) He goes and buys ducks off of some shady website, from what I heard about 20-30 ducks. Then he somehow manages to sneak into the school early in the morning, bypassing security and everything and fills the entire teachers’ lounge with ducks._

_So, by the time the ducks are found, they have pooped everywhere and it’s just gross. Everyone knows it’s Feliks, but Feliks being the man for the perfect crime, doesn’t get caught on any cameras. The principal manages to bust him on showing up late that day though and they settle that if he pays for the expense of animal control (they deal with wild animals) showing up to the school and attends detention (after school punishment where you sit in silence) they won’t call the police. He agrees._

_That’s it. That’s the Duck Story._

_Your friend,_

_Alfred F. Jones_

_P.S: He now has detention until January because he apparently locked the detention proctor (basically, the teacher who runs detention) out of the classroom when they excused themselves for a moment. He never learns, that kid._

 

 

Kiku reread the letter with a small smile. He was on his way to Tokyo via train. Heracles and the rest of the basketball team had somehow managed to beat the odds and make it pass the preliminaries. While Kiku was proud of his friend, he really didn’t enjoy large crowds and the crowd at the Winter Cup was just that—large. He knew the basic rules of basketball from watching others play it and from sports anime like Kuroko no Basuke. Like most sports, it didn’t interest him much, but a promise was a promise.

Heracles said he would meet him at the station, so he wouldn’t get lost looking for the gymnasium, so he wasn’t surprised when he saw the boy dressed in his basketball pants and jacket, resting his head on a nearby pillar. His hands were shoved into his pockets and Kiku wondered why he didn’t wear a coat.

“Hello, Heracles-san,” he greeted the boy as he approached him.

“Huh? Oh, Kiku-kun, you made it!” Heracles wore a pleased expression. He ruffled Kiku’s hair—something he hated. “Aren’t you proud your friend has made it pass the preliminaries and into the actual game?”

Kiku nodded. “You do our school proud. No one shuts up about the basketball team now.”

It was true, everyone couldn’t wait to attend the games and spoke about the school with pride. The girls fawned over and rated the boys—going even as far as to make them lunches and snacks. The basketball players were practically celebrities now.

“And I’ll continue to, just watch me.”

“It’s so strange to see you so confident,” he observed.

“Well, I am now that you came. Thanks Kiku-kun.”

The two made their way to the gymnasium together, mostly in silence as that’s how the two of them usually coexisted and bonded. Well, there was that, and their mutual love for cats.

When they arrived they had to go their separate ways, Kiku made sure to wish Heracles the best and he hoped he wouldn’t get scolded by the coach for coming back a little late.

Kiku approached the area in which his school was seated and was surprised when he saw two familiar faces in the crowd.

“Honda-san!”

“Kiku-chan!”

He saw the smiling and familiar faces of Ludwig and Feliciano waving him over. Kiku walked over and sat in the seat that they were apparently saving for him.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me you were going?” Kiku asked.

Feliciano and Ludwig looked at each other for a moment with confused expressions.

Finally, Ludwig scowled. “I told Feli to tell you.”

Feliciano looked over at Kiku sheepishly. “Sorry, Kiku-chan.”

“It’s not a problem, don’t worry,” he replied before Feliciano burst into tears and made a show.

The trio had one of the best views in the front row towards the center, so they could see all of the action going on down below them. Both teams were warming up on their respective sides of the court, but everyone could feel the tension in the air as the time before the game lessened.

Kiku searched the players for Heracles, but he wasn’t there—if anything he was getting scolded by the coach for not being an exemplary leader. After what seemed to be a few minutes, Heracles stepped onto the court with his signature lazy attitude that made you think he would fall asleep on the court any minute now.

He searched the crowd and waved when he met Kiku’s gaze. Kiku waved back, giving him a small reassuring smile.

The game began shortly after and it was intense from the tip off. The students and other spectators chanted encouragement for their team of choice. Kiku refrained from joining in, feeling like his presence was encouraging enough.

The teams were evenly matched, it was really just a huge stalemate with both teams defending their hoops from the other tenaciously. It wasn’t until the ten minute mark where the opposing team had took control of the game by making a three-pointer. The school’s team responded with making a three pointer of their own before the buzzer ended the first quarter.

“Turns out this game is going to be really interesting. The others were obvious wins, but this looks like it’s going to be tough.” Ludwig said as he looked longingly into the crowd.

“Well, with that player Sadik-san on the other team, it makes sense. He’s so good!” Feliciano remarked.

Ludwig turned to glare at him. “Why are you so happy? He’s not on our side.”

“Right,” he realized.

“Who is Sadik-san?” Kiku asked, his curiosity piqued.

Ludwig pointed over to an olive skinned man resting on the bench with a towel around his neck. “He’s a foreign exchange student from Turkey and he’s said to be one of the best high school players in all of Japan. It doesn’t help that he and Heracles-san have a history.”

“What do you mean?” Kiku leaned forward, suddenly more interested than he was before.

“Well, they’re rivals and apparently both schools attended the same training camp over summer break. Heracles-san and Sadik-san got into it and decided to play one another in an one on one game, but they were caught before they could determine a winner.”

Kiku never knew that Heracles had a rival. He wondered if there were other things he didn’t know about his friend.

The second quarter started in no time and Heracles and his team took the opportunity to build on their last buzzer beater. The team made about three more shots on the opposing team, ranging from three pointers, to dunks. It didn’t take long for the other team to retaliate though, they managed to level their scores once again. Within the last minute of the second quarter, Heracles seemed desperate to leave the game in their favor. He attempted a one man alley-oop, but as he successfully slammed the basketball into the hoop he fell down onto the floor, yelling in pain.

Kiku’s eyes widened and before he knew it he yelled his name. He saw Heracles eyes catch his for a brief moment before he squeezed them shut. He held onto his left leg and brought it close to himself. It wasn’t long before medical personnel carried him from the court.

“Poor Heracles-san…” Feliciano muttered, holding his hands to his chest.

“Without him, we’re definitely going to lose this game. I wonder what happened.”

“It looked like something was wrong with his leg.”

“His leg looked pretty bad too.” Feliciano added. “Hey, Kiku-chan, are you okay?” He tugged on Kiku’s shirt sleeve.

Kiku couldn’t take his eyes off the court. He stared forward blankly, the look of horror on his face replaced with one of silent shock. Heracles was fine a moment ago, he looked fine at the station…what had gone wrong?

He was unsure of what to do, part of him wanted to run after him, but where was he? The game was going to resume soon and he wouldn’t be out on the court again from the looks of it. And if it was serious…Kiku didn’t want to think about it.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, Ludwig and Feliciano decided to drop the subject as the game resumed, Heracles getting replaced with what seemed to be a fresh-faced newbie. Kiku didn’t watch the game, he merely sat through it, his mind occupied with entertaining different scenarios.

“Kiku-chan…Kikuuu-chaan…Kiku-chan!” Feliciano exclaimed as he waved his hand in front of Kiku’s face.

Kiku blinked in surprise, forgetting where he was for the moment. People were emptying out, wearing solemn expressions. His eyes drifted to the score board. They had lost by _a lot_. He sighed and stretched for a moment.

“Sorry,” he found himself muttering again.

Kiku left home by himself, Feliciano and Ludwig were staying the rest of the weekend in Tokyo. They had invited him, no doubt worried for their friend, but he politely declined. On the way home he made sure to text Heracles, asking him if he was okay, but he received no reply. Whatever happened to him, he hoped he was okay. It was so rare to see Heracles do anything but sleep and if that were taken away from him, Kiku wasn’t sure would happen to his friend.

It was extremely late by the time he arrived at his apartment. He didn’t even bother to get ready for bed, instead he just collapsed on it with a heavy sigh and it wasn’t soon before sleep overcame him.

 

 

Kiku was woken up by the small vibrations in his left pocket. It took him a moment to realize why he was still wearing his jeans and tee shirt from yesterday. He reached down into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He had five new messages all sent from the same email address.

Karpusi Heracles

_I’m fine…I think. I had to go to the hospital though and I’m waiting for some tests._

_Tests are back…yeah, looks like I’m not as fine as I thought I was…_

_Apparently, I have torn my acl and sprained my wrist…oops_

_My parents are coming here on the next flight…_

_Can you feed my cats for me? I hope they’re okay…_

Kiku reread the messages. He could probably manage to do it after he spoke with Alfred. But, he was mostly focused on the torn ACL. It was such a common knee injury for athletes and most of the time it could be brushed off, but usually at the expense of the player’s future health. He wanted to visit him, but he didn’t want to disturb him or be there when his parents showed up.

Kiku checked the time. It was almost ten in the morning, which was a very unusual time for him to wake up, but considering how late he got home last night, he wasn’t surprised. He was supposed to call Alfred soon, so he reluctantly left his bed and turned on his computer. As it started up he prepared to make himself some tea while he had the time.

It wasn’t long before he sat down in his computer chair, preparing himself for his third conversation with Alfred. He waited for his message, checking his email notifications for any word from his uncles or friends.

_Ready?_

The message popped up in the Skype window.

He replied and immediately picked up when the other called.

After the first few minutes of frantic waves and “can you hear me’s” the pair finally connected.

“’Ey, ‘Iku,” Alfred’s voice was almost as choppy as his image. Instead of the static image of his room behind him, he seemed to be walking around with his earphones in.

“Hello,” he said, waving at the screen and trying not to look uncomfortable.

Alfred waved his hand in front of the camera. “Sorry, if I sounded a bit weird. I was at a place with no wifi…but now I’m not! I’m actually out with my twin brother and we’re getting something to eat…Matty say ‘hi’!” The camera whirled around 90 degrees to someone who looked strikingly similar to Alfred, but an entirely different demeanor. He looked almost as uncomfortable as Kiku.

“Hello?” Matty’s greeting was more of a question if anything.

“Hello, Matty.” Kiku managed.

When Alfred came into view he was chuckling. “I like the way you say ‘Matty’ it’s kind of…cute? I don’t know.”

Kiku blushed slightly at his words, but he was getting used to the American’s frivolous usage of words such as “cute” or “adorable”. He wondered if he used words like that a lot with other people.

“Thank you,” he finally responded, not particularly sure if that was the correct way to respond, but Alfred hadn’t given him much of a choice in this situation.

“So, how’s Supergirl?” Kiku could hear the hustle and bustle of the environment behind Alfred. The blonde looked away for a moment and frowned. “Looks like we’ll be waiting for a table for a while,” but when he looked at the camera he visibly brightened. “That’s fine though, that means we can talk more.”

“Really? I’m glad,” he replied. “I am really enjoying the art…she reminds me of a female version of you.”

Alfred halfheartedly waved him off, Kiku noticed he liked to feign modesty around him in an almost sarcastic manner. “It’s probably the hair and blue eyes.”

Kiku nodded. “Maybe. I have not been able to read much with exams next month.”

“By the way, have you tried to fill out for any American universities? You mentioned it once in a letter and I thought it would be pretty cool if you came to school here.”

“I actually started working on my applications to a few of them. I doubt they will accept me though—“

Alfred threw his free arm up and cut him off. “Nonsense! Schools are always trying to nab some foreign students so they can show off how cool and cultural they are, dude!”

“Nab?”

“It’s like take or grab, really.” Alfred explained. “But, I totally think you’ll get in. You’re the president of your school _and_ the heir to a company. That’s leader material if you ask me.”

“I suppose so. What about you? What are your plans for college?” Kiku asked, trying to take some of the attention off of him.

“Actually, I accepted a deal to go to this university on a football scholarship,” he didn’t look particularly happy about it.

Kiku usually wouldn’t ask, but the American looked as if he wanted him to. “You seem troubled?”

Alfred twisted his lips as if he were thinking of a response. “A little. I only accepted because of the money, you know? Also, I automatically get put on the football team, so that’s a plus, but I still feel as if they didn’t give me much time to think it all through.” He shrugged. “Well, what can ya’ do. I’ve already signed everything over with Arthur.”

Arthur, Kiku learned during their late night chat, was Alfred’s guardian. He didn’t seem very fond of him and when Arthur came into his room to greet Kiku (Arthur had come into the room and noticed Alfred was still up and came to tell him to go to bed) he could tell their relationship was strained and even a bit awkward.

“I see. I am sure things will work themselves out…you love football, right?” He tried to reassure him.

Alfred smiled and gave him a thumbs up. “Of course! And I’m really really good at it.”

Kiku couldn’t help but return the other boy’s smile.

“Hey, Kiku?”

“Yes, Alfred?”

“Can I give you a nickname?”  

Kiku tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Nickname?” He repeated.

“It’s like a shorter way to say someone’s name,” the blonde explained.

“But my name is already short,” he replied not unkindly.

“True, but I really want to give you one, I kind of already have one in mind.”

Kiku couldn’t stop himself from blushing like the protagonist of a shoujo manga. “If you want to, then I suppose I shouldn’t stop you.”

Alfred beamed. “How about Keeks?”

“Keeks?” He repeated. It felt weird on his tongue, but then again, English still felt weird to speak in general. Kiku gave a polite smile. “Fitting.”

“You can call me Al, if you want. Lots of people do, I think. Or at least I try to convince them to.”

“But, I like the name Alfred.”

Kiku didn’t notice the light pink that dusted Alfred’s cheeks. “If you like it so much, then I think I can give you a pass.”

Kiku glanced at the time. “I’m sorry to cut this short,” he repeated a new phrase he learned from an American television show he started watching in his spare time. “I have to go feed my friend’s cat while he’s in the hospital.”

Alfred’s eyes widened in concern. “What happened?”

“He injured himself playing basketball.”

“Hopefully it’s not a torn ACL. Lots of athletes get those and they can really mess you up.”

“Don’t scare the poor kid, Al.” Kiku heard Matty mutter.

“Sorry,” he apologized to Kiku. “Hey, don’t worry about your friend, okay? I’m sure he’ll be alright, Keeks.”

Kiku found himself smiling despite his earlier words. “Thank you, Alfred. I’ll talk to you in a week or so?”

Alfred nodded. “I’ll be anxiously awaiting you’re next letter.”

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Kiku had relaxed some time into their conversation and he couldn’t help that feeling he received when he hung up. Alfred was somehow becoming a precious person to him, even if he couldn’t meet him off the internet.

Kiku smiled to himself for a moment before leaving to feed Heracles’ cats. He was in higher spirits now since he talked to Alfred, but it still didn’t stop the small thoughts that nagged him deep down.

He hoped his friend was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Please, leave feedback, it keeps me all motivated and the likes. I would also like to mention that I'll be starting Penpals Mini Series #1 which are a series of drabbles of the non-ameripan pairings in the Penpals AU. I would like to thank miss-lestrudel (tumblr and ao3!) and nekokeeks (tumblr) for beta reading/editing, you guys are awesome. :)


	4. Just Talk to Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving, Playoffs and Cute Stuff ensues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay...I'm just going to preface this with I'M V SORRY. School, work and volunteering have all teamed up to kick my ass. The good thing is though, I'm learning to manage time a lot better and I'm writing these mostly during my free periods at school (and math class). Anyway, this chapter is somewhat average length and is just kind of random at times. Don't worry I'm setting up for cute side stories and actually PROGRESSING THE RELATIONSHIP, BLESS. This chapter wasn't beta read because I wanted it out asap, so I'm V SORRY. Also, I know, like, nothing about football.
> 
>  
> 
> [CHECK OUT THIS CUTE FANART MISS-LESTRUDEL DREW FOR ME WHEN I WAS SAD. ILY BAE ](http://black-pepper-fries.tumblr.com/post/134158885807/i-drew-ameripan-for-jirkland-rivaailles-fic)

“Can you pass the gravy, Al?” Matthew asked across the table.

“If you pass me the creamed corn, then yeah.” The brothers traded bowls to one another and proceeded to fill their plates with more food.

“Fanks for da food, Franfis. D’it’s delicious.” Alfred spoke as food flew everywhere. Arthur glared in his general direction.

“De rien, mon ange. I couldn’t leave you to l’angleterre’s nightmare of a meal plan now, could I?”

Arthur shifted his glare from Alfred to Francis. “I think my meal plan was great, thank you very much.”

“Oh, like your famous ‘bangers and ma—“ The sudden ring of the doorbell cut their argument short. A confused expression briefly passed over their faces before Matthew spoke.

“That must be Gilbert.”

“Mathieu, you invited that delinquent over and didn’t tell me?”

Matthew shrugged as he got up and pushed in his chair. “Well, I kind of knew you would react like that. I asked Arthur beforehand anyway.”

Francis glared across the table at Arthur. “Arthur, why was I not told?”

_Uh-oh_ , Alfred thought to himself. Whenever Francis uses Arthur’s actual name, he knew the trouble was only starting. Before they could start with one another, a familiar voice could be heard from the entryway. Not soon after, Matthew came in with Gilbert to which Alfred snickered when he saw what he was wearing.

Gilbert, who would normally wear jeans and a tee, was now wearing—albeit uncomfortably—a turtleneck and khakis. He was holding a poorly wrapped gift and he was wearing his typical arrogant smirk.

“Hello, Gilbert.” Arthur said, smiling as if nothing happened.

“Bonjour, Gilbert.” Francis said, throwing his napkin on the table and casting a quick glare over at Arthur before feigning a pleasant smile in Gilbert’s direction. He stood up and outstretched his hands. “I’ll take that for you.” Gilbert handed over the poorly wrapped gift.

“It’s for you, actually.” Francis took the gift into his hands.

“Ah, bien. Merci. Matthew get a chair for your friend and Alfred set a plate for him at the table.” His smile seemed a lot more genuine than before. The brothers got to work as Francis began to unwrap the gift. It was a beautiful clay bowl painted with what seemed to be a flock of ravens heading south across a mixed magenta sky. “C’est très beau, Gilbert.”

Gilbert nodded happily, but looked to Matthew for a translation. Matthew, who had just finished bringing his chair to the table, pursed his lips. Alfred, who was setting the table for his friend, smiled to himself. Despite Gilbert attending French class every day, he still didn’t know a lick of French. He just cheats off of Alfred most of the time, though recently he had been copying Matthew a lot more.

“Where did you get it from?” Francis asked as he set the bowl down on one of the small glass display tables Arthur had for pictures.

Gilbert looked a bit taken aback by the question and he almost looked visibly nervous for a moment.“Uh…I don’t remember…It was a small shop in Chinatown.”

“We have a Chinatown?” Alfred asked as he finished setting the table and sat back down.

“Uh, well it is a little far from here, but we do, yes.”

Everyone else took their seats and resumed their eating.Francis and Arthur rarely spoke to one another, but when they did, their words were bitter. Gilbert sat between Alfred and Matthew. It was a balancing act, Alfred didn’t want to butt in, but he didn’t want to feel like a third wheel either.

He unlocked his phone and stared almost blankly at his messaging app. Toris was off with family and he didn’t want to interrupt (plus, he was sure he didn’t have his phone and that a certain neurotic Polish boy did). Gilbert was already over and currently engrossed with talking to Matthew about something he wasn’t a part of and everyone else in his contacts weren’t that close to him—he only used them when he had questions about practice or homework. Alfred skimmed over the names and for a moment he hesitated over Ivan’s name. He was a bit weird (okay, extremely weird), but they did have a lot in common. Well, space, really. It was when he was ready to press the send button that he got an idea.

 

 

To Kiku:

Hey there

 

Alfred was uncertain whether or not he would answer. He was pretty sure they didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Japan and Kiku may already be in school…

 

 

Kiku:

Hello :3

 

Apparently, he had been wrong about one or the other.

To Kiku:

Day off from school?

 

Alfred tried to keep his phone from the gaze of everyone at the table. Arthur and Francis rarely spared him a glance and Matthew and Gilbert looked as if they were going to make out as soon as everyone left (which made Alfred both want to vomit and celebrate).

 

Kiku:

No. I am sick :3

 

To Kiku:

What do you have?

 

Kiku:

?

 

To Kiku:

What are you sick with, is what I mean.

 

Kiku:

Oh, sorry. I have a fever.

 

To Kiku:

Are you going to be okay?! :o

 

Kiku:

I should be oky by tomorrow…at least I hope. I do not want to miss more school.

 

To Kiku:

It’s totally fine if you do though! Take care of yourself, Keeks!

 

It took him a while to reply after that. Alfred picked at his surprisingly still full plate of seconds. It was both bad and good luck that one of his only friends was home today.

 

Kiku:

Do not worry. I will be fine! I’m sorry for making you worry about me.

 

To Kiku:

Just stay healthy…I want to be able to visit you next year so we can hang out and you can show me around Japan! Kiku: I promise to be fine when you do :)

I have to go, I have a visitor…perhaps my doctor.

 

To Kiku:

Okay…stay safe buddy!!

 

Kiku managed to drag himself from his bed and to open the front door. He was expecting his doctor as he had called for him about an hour ago. Boy, was he surprised.

“Uncle Yao?” The man who stood before him wasn’t technically his uncle, he was a close friend of his deceased mother and current CFO of the company. If anything, he was more like a father to Kiku, since his own father spent so much time away, almost to the point that it seemed like he was avoiding Kiku.

“Hey, Kiku-kun. It’s been awhile.” Yao let himself in, taking off his suit jacket and giving it to Kiku to put away. “I was going to stop by during the weekend, but I heard you were sick. Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”

Kiku, who had just come back from putting away Yao’s jacket, sighed. He could barely breathe, but how could he rest with exams so close? Yao looked past him and at his desk, which was laden with books of all subjects and practice tests. “I was just looking over some things.” Kiku mumbled under his breath.

Yao huffed. “Of course you were. Now, go and lay down. I’ll take care of you. What do you want to eat?” He began to roll up the sleeves of his dress shirt.

“You don’t have to—“

“But I will.” Kiku sighed in defeat. He was way too exhausted for pleasantries and Yao was certainly picking up from the American business men he frequently spent time with.

“Anything is fine,” he blushed a little in embarrassment. “There isn’t really much in my fridge right now though…”

“It’s okay, I’ll send my driver to fetch the ingredients. You just go lay down.”

With that, Kiku obeyed and laid down. Feeling the weight of his eyelids crash down on him and he was swept off into blissful sleep.

“Wake up, Kiku-kun or your soup will get cold.” Yao was sitting beside his bed with a tray in his lap.

“I also got you better medicine, the one you had was awful.” Kiku sat up groggily and wiped his eyes.

Yao gently placed the tray in his lap. He had made him onion miso soup, one of his favorites.

“Thank you for the food,” he said before he started to eat.

“I used to make that for you all the time when you were sick. Your mother was a terrible cook, I remember.”

Kiku smiled as he took another sip. “I know, but she was just too proud of herself, you couldn’t tell her.”

“She was really proud of you too, Kiku-kun.” Yao had a gentleness in his expression that he hadn’t seen in years.

“Yao…” Kiku suddenly felt the overwhelming need to confess to something.

“Yes?” As fast as the urge had come, it had left, so he was stuck to make a decision. “Uh…I’m thinking about going to school in America.”

Yao looked at him, confused for a moment. It was random and out of the blue and definitely not what Kiku wanted to say.

“Okay…would you like to stay at my house there? I have plenty of room you know. I can also contact any universities the company has ties with and get you signed up to take the tests you need for school over there.”

“That would be great. I’m sorry for troubling you so much, I know you’re really busy.” Yao waved him off.

“That’s what I’m here for. What kind of Uncle would I be if I didn’t make sure your wants and wishes were being fulfilled?”

After Kiku had finished his soup and taken his medicine, Yao ordered him back to bed. “Now, you better not go back to studying or— “

“I won’t, I promise.”

“Okay, good. Just make sure you take your medicine and…” Yao’s voice faded softly into the background as Kiku felt himself being dragged into yet another blissful slumber. The last thing he heard was “Sweet dreams, Kiku-kun.”

* * *

 

“What the ever loving hell?!” Alfred gawked at the scene before him.

In a delayed reaction, he covered his mouth—not as if he had much to say, anyway.

Arthur and Francis jumped out of one another’s arms faster than Alfred could spell jump. Their eyes were wide like deer in headlights.

“It’s not what it looks like— “Arthur started, shaking his head as he looked back and forth between Francis and Alfred.

“Ugh, why don’t we just tell them already? They would’ve eventually caught on sometime…or at least Mathieu would—no offense mon ange.” He looked over at Alfred with an apologetic expression.

“T-tell me what?” Alfred said as he slowly uncovered his mouth. He was shaking from the adrenaline that now coursed through his veins.

Francis looked at Arthur, waiting for him to say something. “I, uh, you see, Alfred. I’m—no that’s not right. I…” Arthur sighed. “Ugh, I can’t….Francis and I are dating…have been for a while….we just didn’t know when to tell you two.”

“Well, mon ami, here didn’t know when to tell you. I wanted to tell you all from the start, to avoid this situation,” if Alfred wasn’t mistaken, Francis glared at Arthur for a brief moment.

“I…see. I’m just gonna,” Alfred pointed to the staircase behind him. “Go back upstairs and continue playing Mario Kart with Gil and Mattie. Uh…see ya!” He raced upstairs at an attempt to avoid any more of the awkward conversation. Arthur called after him, but Alfred could barely hear him. He wasn’t upset, he was just surprised, that’s all. It’s embarrassing to see your guardian (especially one like Arthur) be so lovey dovey with someone else.

“Al, what’s wrong?” Mattie asked from the beanbag that he was sharing with Gilbert as Alfred collapsed face first onto the bed.

He hugged his bed and groaned. “Mattie?”

“Yeah?”

“Arthur and Francis are dating.”

“It’s about time you found out.” Matthew replied in a nonchalant manner.

_Wait what?_ Alfred sat up in bed. “You knew?”

Mattie shrugged. “I thought everyone did, I mean, they’re so obvious.”

Alfred thought back to the many times the pair had had their own private little movie nights or times they went out for dinner and insisted that the Alfred stay over Gilbert’s house. Alfred gagged. “Gross.”

“You sound like a middle school boy who still thinks girls have cooties.”

“Whatever…let’s just get back to playing…” In truth he just wanted to forget about it. He had more important things to be worried about, like playoffs for instance. 

* * *

 

 

Alfred inhaled deeply.

He was pretty sure both his nose and lip were bleeding.

_Oh yeah, definitely_ , he thought to himself as he tasted the strong iron on his lip.

Mathias, the vice-captain and receiver for their team, glanced at him in concern. “Are you okay, man?”

Alfred nodded, not taking his eyes off the opposing team as they settled back to the middle of the field for the next play. “Can’t feel a thing.”

The two rushed back to the middle as well, joining their team, and settling into their starting positions. Alfred gripped the football he held in his hand tightly. As his mind formulated a plan.”27, 38, 13, hike!” He yelled as he faked a toss to the right and threw to the left.

The players dispersed throughout the field, chasing after the one player who possessed the ball. There was an insane ringing in Alfred’s ear, but he ignored it and continued to focus at the play unfolding before him. Alfred ran full speed ahead, skillfully skirting around the players pursing Mathias. Once the receiver spotted Alfred out of the corner of his eye, he tossed the ball to him. The crowd began to holler and cheer as he ran diagonally across the field, to the goal at the end.

He was mere feet from it when he was suddenly thrown forward and sent tumbling to the ground. The air was knocked from his lungs as he crashed into the grass, a heavy weight settling across his back. “Fuck.” Alfred lifted his head and spat out a chunk of grass. The weight was slowly lifted from him and he was pretty sure his nose was bleeding again.

The whistle sounded and time was called.

“Alfred, are you okay?” Toris rushed to him as Alfred left the field and went onto the sidelines. Toris attempted to inspect his face, but Alfred quickly shied away from his gaze. His eyes widened in surprise as Toris grabbed his chin and observed his face. “Is your nose bleeding? And your lip too?”

Despite Alfred’s pleas, Toris dragged him by the wrist over to where he kept his first aid kit. He removed Alfred’s helmet and took a step back. “Are you sure you’re okay? You definitely don’t look the part.” Alfred nodded as Toris retrieved the materials he needed.

“I’m fine, Toris. A little blood is nothing.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “Whatever you say.” Toris went to work, tending to Alfred’s face with great care as the rest of the team recharged on the bench. Alfred hissed in pain as the alcohol burned at his cuts. He couldn’t wait to get back onto the field.

“You really seem out of it…everything okay?” Toris asked as he finished cleaning his face. The rest of the team was already huddled together, planning their next moves.

“It’s nothing.” Once Toris finished, Alfred promptly stood up. “Thanks.”

Before he could leave, Toris asked him another question. “What’s today’s date, Alfred?”

Alfred rolled his eyes, leave it to Toris to be an overly concerned mother at the worst times. “Saturday, November 28th.”

Toris nodded and Alfred took that has his cue.

As he crossed the foul line to join his team, who had just entered back onto the field, Alfred was stopped by the coach. “I’m sorry, Al, but I’ll have to bench ya’ ‘til the fourth quarter.”

Alfred looked from the field and back to his coach. “Why?”

The coach sighed. “Mathias made a good point. We’re down 14 points and we’re going to need you at 100% if we want any chance of winning this game.”

Alfred crossed his arms. “Since when did Mathias make the calls? Besides, I’m fine, Toris cleaned me up.” He tried to keep the contempt he felt from leaking into his voice.

“Have you not seen how out of it you were out there? Don’t take it personally, but you really look like you could use a rest, Al.”

“You just can’t—“ Toris put a hand on his arm and Alfred balled his fist, barely containing his anger.

“Trust your team, Alfred.” Alfred looked back at his friend and sighed before taking a spot next to the bench-warming rookies. The crowd, surprised by the call, jeered, which made Alfred smile to himself.

 

As shortly as the quarter had started, it had ended. The entire time the team absolutely bombed, lacking in coordination. Alfred couldn’t deny that he had felt a tiny bit of satisfaction knowing how much his team needed him to function. On the other hand, the team was now behind by at least four goals. Which meant Alfred had his work cut out for him.

“Alright, Alfred. You’re in for this quarter. See if you can bring us out of this mess.”

The crowds cheered as he stood up and joined the huddle as the team laid out their desperate plans.

Alfred made sure to cast a dark glare over at Mathias as he discussed his plans for victory. Mathias pretended not to see it, looking back at the crowd in an aloof manner that Alfred knew was a façade. The team headed back onto the field, the crowd cheering them on, despite how far behind they were.

The plan was simple: they were going to let Alfred run the ball as much as they could and hopefully they would at least be tied to go into overtime. It worked long enough to have a seven-point gap that could be easily closed by another play and with only about a minute left, Alfred was determined.

The team settled into their starting position and Alfred called the game plan. “Hike!” He threw the ball to a teammate on the right and headed down the field. He waited for the ball to reach Mathias before running close to the teammate at full speed. He waved his hands, trying to get his attention, but to no avail. He kept running—eventually passed Alfred himself—towards the goal.

It was no surprise when he was tackled to the ground and the buzzer sounded, recognizing the end of the game. They had lost.

 

“What the hell, man?” Was the first thing Alfred said when the team entered the locker room, their heads hung low in defeat. He glared in the direction of Mathias, who knitted his brows in confusion. “First you get me benched for the rest of the third quarter, then you ignored my play and completely threw the game. What were you thinking, dude?”

Mathias stopped in his tracks. “I thought it was too ambitious…that they would catch on…plus you should’ve seen yourself out during the third quarter, Alfred. It was like you were barely there. For a moment I thought you had a concussion.”

“Toris said I was fine.” Alfred balled his fist and inhaled deeply. The frustration he felt was clearly illustrated all over his face. “If you trusted me, we could have won.”

Mathias sighed. “Whatever, man. Let me know when you’ve stopped blaming me to make yourself feel better.”

Alfred glared after him as Mathias left to his locker towards the back aisle of the locker room.The team, who was watching the situation unfold cautiously, all awkwardly busied themselves with whatever they could find in their lockers or gym bags.

Alfred went outside, back into the hallway from which they came and settled his head against the wall. It was empty, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Footsteps could be heard behind him.

“Alfred…” It was Toris. Alfred lifted his head from the wall and opened his eyes. He was surprised when the other boy pulled him into a clumsy hug. Toris was known to keep his distance even when he considered someone a close friend.

“I smell like crap.” Toris buried his head in the crook of Alfred’s neck. “I don’t care.” Alfred leaned his head on his and sighed heavily.

“Well,” Alfred started. “We had to lose some time, right?” He faked a good-natured smile.

Toris pulled away, a pitiful expression gracing his face. “Don’t let Mathias get to you, okay?”

Alfred slowly nodded. “I know, he’s an asshole sometimes. Makes me wonder why he even plays the game, honestly.” He couldn’t help but hear the other man’s voice echo in his head and feel the guilt settle into the pit of his gut. “I’m going to get changed and head home. Francis gave us some bath bombs I wanted to try.”

“O-okay, you sure you don’t need a ride?” Alfred shook his head. “Nah, my family came to see the game.”

With that, he left into the locker room, ignoring the curious glances he received from his fellow teammates. _And completely ignoring the guilt he felt._

 

Alfred sat in the middle of the empty field, despite his desire to take a shower. He had told Arthur he was staying the night at Toris’ and, well, that was lie. His phone was on airplane mode and the only company he had was the bitter winter wind. It sent shivers down his back and he regretted not taking Arthur’s suggestion of wearing a jacket.

Alfred closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He would clear his mind and head back in a bit, definitely. He tried to wash away the lingering desire to stay their all night, languishing in guilt. Mathias was right, at least when it came to him screwing up during the third quarter. His hindsight was 20/20, as he mulled over his mistakes that could’ve easily been rectified. They wouldn’t have been so far behind if he would’ve paid more attention.

Alfred pushed his blonde bangs back out of his face. It wasn’t like him to let words get to him, but this time it was different. He had let everyone down, hadn’t he? They were so close, yet just when he thought they could make it, his and the rest of the team’s dreams were ripped from them. He hadn’t done his job as a captain, hell, the vice-captain didn’t even trust his judgment to follow his plays. He couldn’t help the twinge of worry that bugged him. What if his college didn’t want him anymore? They were one of the best in the nation and they wanted him, but what if his lack of leadership turned them off? How was he going to pay for college now? Alfred hid his face in his hands and groaned. It was tough to escape his own thoughts.

He didn’t want to speak to anyone. He didn’t want to see pitiful expressions or hear the common phrase of “don’t blame yourself!” In spite of this, he grabbed his phone from his pocket and took it off airplane mode. He found himself at a lost for what to do next.

The next thing he knew he was dialing a number that was becoming all too common to him.

After taking a few minutes for Skype to properly connect them, a groggy Kiku answered.“Alfred?” He said through almost closed eyes.

Alfred laughed. “Sorry to wake you up, if you want I could call later.”

Kiku shook his hand and rolled over onto his stomach. “No, no, it is okay. It was about time I woke up?”

Alfred nodded at Kiku’s usage of the idiom. “Okay, if you say so. Are you feeling better?”

Kiku nodded, the sunlight from a nearby window bathing his pale features with a wonderful glow. “Yes, I am feeling a lot better. Thank you.” He raised an eyebrow after a moment. “Where are you?”

Alfred, suddenly reminded of his entire situation smiled regardless. “I’m at the football field.”

“But, you are lying down…why?” Alfred pulled at the grass with his free hand, ripping the blades from their roots absentmindedly. “I’m just tired, you know? Rough day.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Alfred thought it over and sooner than later he found himself divulging everything to Kiku notwithstanding his fear that the other would just feign pity.

After a few seconds of silence, Kiku spoke. “When a team loses, it is not just the captain’s fault. A team is more than just its captain, right? So that means everyone contributes. A great commander with a bad army is just as useless as a bad commander with a good army.” Kiku looked a little more alive now. His demeanor was a lot less sluggish and he was now sitting up in bed with his blankets wrapped around him.

Alfred smiled at his words because they rang true. “Thanks, Keeks. You really know what to say sometimes. Which is kind of funny because well…you know…”

He didn’t notice the blush forming on Kiku’s cheeks. “You’re welcome.”

Alfred shivered as a particularly frigid wind swept over him. “Alfred, you should go home or you will get sick, like me.”

Alfred chuckled. “Funny thing is, I _may_ have lied to my parents and said I was going over a friend’s house and lied to my friend and said I was going home.”

Kiku sighed though not unkindly. “Of course.”

Alfred's world stood silent for a moment before speaking again. “Keeks?”

“Yes?”

“Can you just talk to me?” It was a random request, but Alfred wasn’t ready to return to his reality yet. Even with Kiku’s words, he wasn’t ready to face the music and reconcile with his lost.

Kiku found himself blushing and nodding. “O-Okay. What do you want me to talk about?”

“You.”

This time Alfred noticed the light pink dusting on his pallid cheeks. “Uh…well, what would you like to know?”

From there Alfred asked the other a ton of questions. In one night, he had learned so much about Kiku that it would have taken years to learn in letters. For example, he had an irrational fear of lightning and wished to wear his hair in a bun like his uncle frequently did. He also learned that Kiku’s guilty pleasure was kpop groups—more specifically the heartthrobs of BTS.

By the end of their conversation (Kiku had to leave for his English lessons soon), Alfred’s chest had been feeling a lot lighter and he couldn’t stop smiling.

 

To Toris:

Pick me up at the football field?

 

He braced himself for a game of 20 questions that he believed would come with his request.

 

From Toris:

Sure thing!

 

Alfred blinked at his phone screen; perhaps he gave his friend too little credit.

It wasn’t long before Toris pulled up and Alfred hopped in. The two drove home in a comfortable silence; Alfred was unsure if it was because Toris was tired or simply didn’t mind his deceit.

When they reached his house, the two had to sneak their way upstairs and past his parents, which was extremely hard considering how much the wooden floor creaked beneath them. Finally, the pair had reached their destination, Toris’ room, which was much cleaner than Alfred could ever hope his room could be. Posters were neatly framed and hung on his wall. His bed was spotless and made, his books all put away and alphabetized. No matter how many times Alfred saw Toris’ room, he would always be amazed. Toris went over to his closet (which was organized by color and season) and threw a pair of sweat pants and an oversized tee shirt at Alfred. “You left these last time you were here, so I decided to keep them just in case.”

Alfred raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you just don’t like sleeping in my clothes?”

Toris blushed slightly. “N-No, of course not—go take a shower.”

Alfred smirked mischievously as he left the room to shower. He liked teasing Toris.

 

After his shower, Alfred came back into the room to find Gilbert there in his PJs, seemingly ready to spend the night.

“Gilbert, what are you doing here?” Alfred said in disbelief as he entered the room, the smell of soap clinging to his washed body.

Toris shushed him and glared over at Gilbert. “He invited himself.”

Gilbert shrugged. “I was bored and you said you were over here so I thought I’d join.”

Alfred chuckled. “What? Did Mattie already go to bed?” Mattie was known for being that kid who went to sleep earlier than what was considered the norm.For all Alfred knew, his twin brother fell asleep immediately after the game on the way home. Gilbert didn’t respond, but his body language gave him away.

“That’s what you ge—ah-choo!” Alfred’s sneeze earned him a glare from Toris as well. He smiled meekly up at him. “Sorry,” he whispered.

“Well, then…” Gilbert started, a mischievous smirk overcoming his lips. “What are our plans for tonight?”

Toris and Alfred looked at one another and then back at Gilbert. “Sleep,” they said in unison.

Gilbert lay down on the floor and sighed. “You guys are no fun. Lame, like Mattie’s sleeping schedule.”

Toris and Alfred laughed lowly as they set up their spots on the floor.

Sometimes, when they were too lazy they would sleep in the same bed (Toris had an unordinarily huge room for a teenager, complete with a giant queen sized bed), but since Gilbert was here, they didn’t want him to be left out. Toris gave his bed to Alfred since he declared he needed it the most after such a rough day and he took the floor in his stead beside Gilbert.

It wasn’t long before Toris could be heard lightly snoring and eventually even Gilbert (who swore he could pull an all-nighter) was sound asleep. Alfred lied awake, his mind racing from his thoughts of the day. Whenever they got out of hand he thought about his conversation with Kiku and suddenly none of it mattered. Kiku’s words and presence in his mind soothed him enough that it lulled him into a deep slumber. He would have to find a way to thank him one day.

He really wanted to thank him one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter I have planned next time is quite lengthy, but hopefully it will be done before the end of the month. If not, have a happy holiday and fantastic new year~ This chapter wasn't too great, I'm sorry, but I promise the next should be better tbh! 
> 
> [Comments and Kudos keep me going! Thanks so much for the kind messages on Tumblr, they really motivate me, ily!]
> 
> Thanks to [miss-lestrudel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_lestrudel/works) for editing!


	5. Holiday Cheer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super terrible at updating....but work is over so, yay! Thanks to miss_lestrudel for editing, you're bae.

“Lud-chan, how did I do?” Feliciano edged towards Ludwig, who sat across the table from him.

Kiku suggested that they go to his house to study, since they had been chastised in the library so many times due to Feliciano’s volume.

Ludwig scratched his head nervously as he looked down at the paper. “Uh, well, you got the first step right.”

“But, the first step was just writing it down,” he pouted. “I don’t get what I’m doing wrong.”

Kiku looked over at Feliciano’s work. “Hm, you’re making a very simple mistake actually. You’re using the wrong formula.” His tone was neither patronizing nor teasing.

Feliciano looked over at Kiku with desperate eyes. “You mean, there is more than one formula for that? Then when do you know which one to use? I’m so confused.” Feliciano laid his head on the table as if he were giving up on exams already.

Kiku felt bad for the boy, who definitely struggled with math even before exams. Kiku brought out a sheet of paper from his notebook and began to scribble down some notes. He made sure to draw some pictures to keep the other boy’s attention.

Ludwig could only watch as Kiku explained to Feliciano exactly what he was missing in the first place. Feliciano had picked up his head from the table and straightened up as Kiku spoke to him. When he finished Feliciano nodded.

“Now, try the question again and show it to me.” Kiku smiled as one would smile at a small child.

“You’re really good at that, Honda-san.”

Kiku blushed. “Oh, no, Feliciano is just easy to teach.”

Feliciano’s (who was hunched over his work) finally popped up his head. “I finished!” He gave the paper excitedly to Kiku.

Kiku scanned over the work, smiling to himself when he finished. “Good job, Feli-kun.”

Feliciano clapped his hands together and looked over at Ludwig. “Did you see that, Lud-chan? Kiku-chan is such a great teacher.” He then turned his head to Kiku, who was once again sent into a slightly flustered state. “Thank you so much!”

“Y-you’re welcome.”

The silence that slowly built amongst them as they went to work studying was quickly broken by the sound of Kiku’s phone ringing. “Sorry, I forgot to silence it.”

“Who is it?” Feliciano asked as Ludwig stared daggers at him for his rudeness.

Kiku looked at the screen and back at his friends. “Uh…it’s my penpal from America calling.”

“Ooooh, answer it, answer it! I’m sure Lud-chan won’t mind.”

Ludwig shook his head. “I don’t mind.”

Kiku had downloaded the app at the behest of Alfred as he thought it would just be a lot more convenient for the two of them. Usually Alfred would ask before calling, so this was…different.

Kiku answered and after a few minutes of unclear static between the two, they could finally see and hear one another. Feliciano briskly made his way to Kiku’s side and he beckoned Ludwig to join them.

“Hey, Keeks!” Alfred waved at the camera with a wide smile.

He waved back. “H-hey, Alfred.” Kiku was a lot more self-conscious of his accent with his friend’s around. Not so much anymore with Alfred because whenever he apologized for him not understanding he would blame it on other things like their connection or anything else, really. “These are my friends, Feliciano and Ludwig.”

Feliciano waved enthusiastically at the screen of his phone. Ludwig gave a curt nod with a small smile.

“Nice to meet you!” Feliciano said in English. Once he was done he looked satisfied with himself. “My brother taught me that,” he whispered in Japanese to his friends.

“I’m pretty sure we also learned that in _English_ class, Feli-kun.”

Feliciano shrugged.

“It’s so cool when you guys speak Japanese! Hearing other languages is always so strange, in a cool way.” Alfred spoke after observing them.

Kiku smiled. “I could teach you a few words if you want—anyway, you did not tell me before you called, are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. I just really wanted to talk to you. I’m sorry if I inconvenienced—or made it hard—for you.” The poor quality of his camera hid the blush forming on his tan skin.

Kiku also found himself turning red. “O-oh, it’s fine, we were just studying.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay, talk to you tomorrow, Alfred.”

“Text me!” Alfred said, inching his face so close to the camera that it made Kiku giggle.

“I will,” he replied, trying not to laugh further.

“Alright, bye guys, it was nice meeting you all!”

“Nice to meet you!” Feliciano shouted over everyone else as he waved goodbye.

When the call was ended, Feliciano looked over at Kiku, who was smiling to himself. “Wow, Kiku-chan, he’s cute and he makes you laugh! Do you like him? You look like you do!”

“Feliciano! You can’t just ask those things!” Ludwig looked over at the now very red Kiku. “Sorry, Kiku,” he bowed. “I’ll walk him home, he’s too excited today. I guess foreigners excite him.”

Kiku shook his head. “I-it’s fine! I just—“ He could barely manage words in his extremely flustered state. He watched as Ludwig packed up their things and left dragging Feliciano behind him.

Once the front door shut and Kiku was left alone with his thoughts, he left to the bathroom to wash his face. He had no doubt in his mind that he found Alfred _attractive_ , but he just thought most of his appeal was because he was foreign and said so many bold things without much thought.

Kiku sighed as he looked into the mirror at his reflection. If he did, it didn’t matter right now, right? He had other things to worry about, like exams and the rest of his future.

He couldn’t possibly worry about that right now.

 

* * *

 

 

Alfred had been avoiding Arthur for weeks.

By skillfully timing his coming and goings, Alfred managed to slip around, avoiding conversation at all costs. It almost seemed as if Arthur avoided him as well, he didn’t make eye contact with him while he taught and he certainly did not make an effort to speak to him.

Alfred was happy for him—before Francis, he had to admit he was worried that he would end up dying alone (although—even if Alfred would hate to admit it—he’d never leave Arthur to die alone).

 It was one day when he was returning from staying at Toris’ house (which he had been doing a lot more frequently as of late), that he encountered Arthur waiting for him at the doorway.

Alfred was startled by the other man’s presence; Arthur was usually out at the local tea shop or running errands at this time.

“Alfred,” Arthur called. Alfred could detect the shakiness behind his words. “Please, sit down for a moment.”

Alfred settled the bag he carried against the wall of the entrance and shook off the purple parka he wore. “Uh…okay.” He said as he hung his coat on the coat hanger. He avoided Arthur’s piercing green eyes as they followed him while he went to take a seat at the empty dinner table.

A million thoughts raced through his mind. Was this going to be about Francis? That was the last thing he wanted; he would get used to it on his own, it’s was just…hard to digest and understand.

He couldn’t help but feel highly immature when Arthur took a seat across from him. He felt like a petulant child with a twisted Oedipus complex (or whatever—he remembered the term only vaguely from his English course). He was nothing of the sort. He regretted avoiding him for so long and only this conversation further.

Arthur cleared his throat and Alfred was snapped out of his thoughts and held Arthur’s gaze for a moment.

“Ah….” Alfred opened his mouth and then closed it. Was he supposed to start this or…?

“So, you know of my brother, Peter by now?”

Alfred nodded. When he read the similar name in the letter, he begged Arthur to tell him what he could about their relation. It turns out Peter was yet another member of Arthur’s estranged family.

“I don’t have anything _against_ Peter, per se. He’s a tad bit annoying, but we mostly didn’t talk because he was conditioned to think I was a bad person. The only reason why we talked in the first place is because of that damned Frenchman.” Arthur muttered as he washed the dishes. “He’s always sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Alfred leaned against the counter. He never knew why Arthur never talked to his family—Arthur said it was over something stupid and Alfred believed him. If they’re related to Arthur, it was probably for a dumb reason.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. We connected and caught up. He’s teaching English in Japan right now and thus this entire exchanged started.”

That conversation was a long time ago, Arthur didn’t talk that much about it afterwards. He probably didn’t want to admit that Francis did something right in getting them to speak to one another. “Well, Peter will actually be staying with us over winter break. I just…wanted to warn you, is all.”

Alfred’s shoulders visibly sagged in relief. “That’s cool. I can’t wait to meet him.”

Arthur stood up and stretched. “You’ll regret saying that.” Arthur looked into the kitchen and back at Alfred. “Say…did you have anything to eat, are you hungry?”

“I am, actually, why?”

“Well, uh, I was planning on going out to dinner with…erm…Francis, but I was thinking maybe you and Matthew could tag along as well.”

Alfred smiled. That wasn’t as awkward as he thought it would be nor did it seem any different from what they “used” to do. (In his avoidance of Arthur, Alfred had _also_ been skipping their family dinners.) “Sure, that sounds great.”

For the first time in a while, Arthur smiled.

 

* * *

 

 

“This won’t do…” Alfred said as he appraised the mug he held in his hand. He shook his head as he placed the mug back down on the shelf.

Gilbert grimaced as he watched his friend. “You know, I’m pretty sure Arthur and Mattie will be happy with whatever you give them, unlike Francis. Mattie told me he’s really picky and hard to buy for.”  

Alfred nodded. “I just bought him this cologne he was gawking at when we went out to dinner once.”

The two of them continued on, passing things until finally exiting the store empty handed. The streets were filled with people bustling about with bags in their hands. The aggregation of their voices all mixing together to form one large mumbling crescendo. When they passed a KFC, Alfred was struck by an idea.

“Ooh,” Alfred pointed at the restaurant with excitement shinnying in his blue eyes. “Kiku says that Japanese people eat KFC on Christmas!”

Gilbert nodded. “My brother told me.”

Alfred was surprised to know that the man he spoke to over Skype was Gilbert’s brother who was studying in Japan. Alfred was even more surprised when he found out Gilbert was the older sibling. Ludwig seemed very anal-retentive in comparison.  

“That reminds me…” Alfred started. “I have to get Kiku something, so Peter can take it back with him.”

“Peter, Arthur’s brother?”

Alfred perked up. “Yeah, that’s him. I can’t wait to meet him. That reminds me _again_. I have to buy him a present too.”

Gilbert groaned. “You’re killing me, man.”

“Arthur stop fussing around and have a seat.” Francis chided, laying a hand on Arthur’s chest.

Arthur huffed, his eyebrows set into a scowl. “I’m not fussing.”

“You are.” Francis countered. “Just relax, everything is cleaned and ready.”

“Are you sure the bookshelves don’t need another dusting?”

Francis chuckled. “I’m quite sure, mon cher.”

As much as the scene made Alfred want to vomit, he was glad to see they weren’t arguing. They had been doing that less lately ever since they told everyone about the two of them.

Peter was to come any minute now, which had Arthur pacing around like a madman trying to straighten up all that he could despite having them all come over to clean early this morning. Francis had made a nice lunch for them all to enjoy, Alfred helped mostly so Francis would let him try everything.

Alfred had to admit—he was a little nervous to meet Arthur’s brother. From what he could surmise, Peter seemed the more outgoing and friendly of the two, while Arthur was, well, Arthur.

When the doorbell rang a moment of silence passed between them and they all exchanged nervous glances with one another.

“Well, I’ll go get the door.” Arthur said awkwardly, leaving the living room in stiff, rigid motions.

Francis followed not a second after with a concerned look on his face.

It was so odd to see Arthur behave this way. No matter how much he claimed he didn’t really care for his younger brother visiting, Arthur clearly felt the complete opposite.

Matthew and Alfred stared at one another from the seats on the couch. Matthew looked less than thrilled to be at a family gathering, then again, he had seemed that way ever since he started dating Gilbert. They didn’t really like to talk about their relationship. Alfred thought it was a little weird that his brother and one of his best friends were dating—and that Mattie had managed to find himself in a relationship before Alfred did. Most would think Alfred would have found someone, as he was the more outgoing of the two, albeit, a little nerdier perhaps.

There was an exchange of muffled conversation at the door. Francis’ voice being the more boisterous of the three. Alfred could vaguely make out Peter’s voice—it was a higher pitch than Arthur’s, but about the same accent.

It wasn’t long before the trio stepped into the living room. Alfred and Matthew stood up simultaneously to greet their guests. Peter was a darker blonde than Arthur’s, but they shared the same bushy eyebrows. His eyes were a deep blue color rather than Arthur’s deep green. They were about the same height, but one could tell Peter was about an inch taller when they stood beside each other.

Peter’s eyes lit up when he saw the two of them. “Wow, twins!” He exclaimed before rushing from his brother’s side to hug Alfred, then Matthew. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’m Peter, by the way. Arthur’s little brother.”

Alfred stifled a laugh when he saw Arthur’s reaction to Peter’s words. He outwardly looked vaguely annoyed by his presence, but he could tell he was overjoyed to see his little brother.

“I’m Alfred,” he said, pointing at himself. “That’s Mattie,” he pointed at his brother, who politely smiled.

Peter mumbled their names to himself as if he were trying to keep track.

“Now,” Francis clapped both of his hands together. “Why don’t you get settled in your room while we set up for lunch? You must be famished. Arthur, will you help him with his things? Boys, come with me.”

Alfred could see what Francis was trying to do and nodded right away, trailing after him with Matthew in tow.

Lunch had gone smoothly, Peter told them all about his adventures in Japan and even a few stories he remembered from his childhood with Arthur. Arthur would sometimes interrupt him when he did this, telling him when he believed Peter was too “facetious” with the details. Peter would then mutter in Japanese to himself and Arthur would scowl, knowing he was probably saying something unpleasant.

 

* * *

 

 

Christmas came a few days after, Alfred awoke to the smell of Francis’ food which promptly got him out of his bed. Matthew yelped as Alfred woke him up with a start.

“Merry Christmas, Mattie,” he said excitedly.

Matthew glared at him, covering his eyes from the light pouring in through the window. “Merry Christmas,” he mumbled before falling back asleep.

Alfred took his time getting ready, taking about ten minutes just to pick out his favorite ugly sweater and freshen up.

The first person he saw downstairs was Arthur, who was watching as Francis made breakfast in the kitchen. He was wearing a cream colored cardigan with black reindeer dancing across. In his hand he nestled a mug of tea. “Merry Christmas, Arthur.” He thought of giving Arthur a hug, but thought against it, due to his fear of being burned by the steaming drink. Alfred rarely thought of being affectionate towards Arthur, though Christmas was technically a rare occurrence for them.

“Merry Christmas to you too, Alfred.” Arthur smiled. He had been in higher spirits ever since his brother came to visit, rather than his typical grumpy self. Whenever Peter was around he would pretend to be annoyed, but slowly it was slipping and anyone could see that Arthur was absolutely overjoyed.

The two of them set the table, Alfred complained that Francis never tried with his Christmas attire. He had decided that wearing a red sweater constituted as “celebrating the holidays” though Alfred just called it being plain lazy.

Matthew didn’t join them until a little later. He was borrowing one of Alfred’s ugly sweaters which was a little too big for him. It was one of Alfred’s favorites, green with a bell that would occasionally light up. He looked as if he had a rough night sleeping in Alfred’s bed as his eyes were bloodshot red.

It wasn’t soon after until Peter came down as well, his smile fading as he looked at everyone around the room. “I didn’t take Arthur for the festive type. Had I known, I would’ve worn something uglier.” He pinched the plain blue tee he wore.

“You could always wear one of mine,” Alfred chimed.

“With what body mass?” Arthur remarked dryly before taking a sip of his tea.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny, Arthur.” Peter replied playfully. He turned his eyes on Alfred. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine. Oh—and Merry Christmas to you all.”

A “Merry Christmas” resounded around the room and they all got ready to eat. It was tradition to eat breakfast then open gifts, Alfred was excited to see the looks on everyone’s faces when he saw what he got them. He also had to admit he was a little excited to see what Arthur got him. He had been hinting at it all week and Alfred just wanted to know already.

Francis had made an array of different foods. Placed in front of them were omelets, crepes, bacon, fresh bread, fruits, and waffles (as per Alfred’s request). There was scarce conversation between them all; Francis did most of the talking, mostly commenting on the lack of snow this Christmas and how he and Matthew had to leave to France for a few days so they could visit some of Francis’ family. Usually Alfred and Arthur would go to Europe as well (though, Arthur never visited his “family” just friends who were like family). This year Arthur was uncharacteristically quiet about it and Alfred thought it was maybe because of his sibling’s visit.

After the meal, it was time to exchange gifts. They gathered on the plush seats surrounding the tree in the living room. Alfred dug out all of his presents from the amply decorated tree. They were poorly wrapped, except for the ones Toris helped him with.

They all shared a laugh when Francis opened his presents just to find that they were all the same perfume, varying in size from the full sized bottle, to the travel sized, and the roll on. They all laughed about it, though Alfred could pick out the strain in Arthur’s. He (of course) felt bad despite Francis’ joy.

Alfred had gotten both Arthur and Peter imported teas from Japan that Kiku had recommended to him (the shipping was hell to pay, but both of the Englishmen were excited to try them it made it worth it) and he got Mattie a jersey of his favorite hockey player.

In return, Alfred was given a set of hard to find Batman comics from Francis and a gift certificate to the game store Alfred frequented by Mattie. Arthur cleared his throat when it was his turn, gesturing to pass on his turn.

Peter looked at his brother with furrowed brows. “You’re giving me the honors?”

“I don’t see why not,” Arthur answered. He looked pleased with himself, as if he knew Alfred was going to love his gift already.

“Alrighty then,” Peter started. He had an envelope clutched behind him. “Well, I see that you’ve become close one of my students in the past year and Arthur and I thought it would be a great gift to let you spend spring break in Japan. You’ll be staying with me, of course, but I’m sure Kiku will be very excited to meet you.”

Alfred looked between the two of them excitedly before pulling them into a long, drawn out hug. “Thanks so much!” He kept repeating it quickly over and over again.

Arthur chuckled. “You’re quite welcome, Alfred.”

He was going to Japan. He was going to meet Kiku _in person._

“I’ve got to call him now,” Alfred relinquished them from the hug and pulled out his phone, busting with the need to tell his friend.

* * *

 

 

 Kiku spent Christmas alone. In past years after his mother died, he had spent time with Heracles, but he returned home for therapy after his injuries. Feliciano and Ludwig had both returned home for the holidays as well (though, they did offer to stay for his sake). Yao’s flight was delayed and he wouldn’t be coming in for another two days, which left Kiku all alone despite all the decorating and preparing he did.

He tried not to let it get to him. At the baseline, he was used to being alone, it shouldn’t hurt. But for some reason it did.

Kiku tried to distract himself the entire day by watching videos (which was hard, Christmas was everywhere—even in the cute cat videos) and doodling out a simple manga. He rarely got time to draw so everything looked rough and uneven.

He almost jumped out of his seat when he heard his Skype notification. Alfred was calling during what should have been Christmas morning for him. Kiku wondered why he would call him when he was supposed to be spending time with his family.

Kiku accepted the call either way, Alfred’s figure was blurry as if he were moving around too much and so fast despite the fact that their connection was not fully established. He kept waving this red envelope at the screen, prompting Kiku to look away from the screen momentarily.

“—tickets to Japan!” Was the first thing that Kiku heard from his mouth.

“Excuse me?” Kiku said.

“I got tickets to Japan, man! I’m coming to see you over Spring Break!”

Kiku couldn’t help smile. “That’s wonderful, Alfred! I can’t wait to meet with you and show you around Japan,” he replied.

“Now you _have_ to teach me some cool Japanese phrases! You could be like my Japanese tutor or something,” Alfred spoke so fast that it was hard for Kiku to keep up, but he tried his best.

“Y-Yeah, I would love to.”

Alfred’s excitement made Kiku’s stomach catch this unfamiliar feeling. Mr. Kirkland had joined in from behind where Alfred was sitting on the floor and waved excitedly to the camera.

“Hello, Kiku,” he said with a pleasant smile. “How’s your holiday?”

“Oh, hello Mr. Kirkland. My holiday is going well. I’m happy to see you arrived safely.” The teacher had told him he was going to visit America—more specifically his pen pal.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“I’m glad to hear that too,” he replied, only realizing how stupid it was a moment too late. Mr. Kirkland nodded to him and left as he was being called by another person in the background.

Alfred chuckled a bit at his answer. “What did you do today?” Alfred asked.

Kiku thought for moment. The truth was lame, but he couldn’t think of a good enough lie either.

“Not much,” Kiku said in an attempt to play it off.

“Did you spend any time with family or friends?”

Kiku shook his head. “They were stuck at the airport and won’t be able to make it in for a few days. Anyway, did you receive—“

Alfred frowned. “Kiku, that’s terrible! Are you okay by yourself?”

The worry in his voice made Kiku laugh. “Sorry, it’s just—your concern is…how would you put it… ‘refreshing’ maybe?”

“I’m pretty sure you should go more for ‘adorable’ but that’s just thought.” Alfred playfully winked at the screen.

Kiku turned bright red, remembering Feliciano’s words.

“I love it when you do that.” Alfred blurted out. He hadn’t meant to say it, from the wide eyed look he had on his face.

“W-when I do—?”

“When you get all flustered, it’s cute,” he carried along like it was casual conversation.

“So you do this on purpose?”

Alfred smirked. “Maybe.”

“You’re unfathomable.”

“I think you’re looking for ‘unbelievable’.” Alfred corrected him not unkindly.

Kiku cleared his throat, his face still burning. “Anyway, have you received my Christmas gift yet?”

Alfred shook his head. “How about you? Did you get mine?”

Kiku shook his head as well. “I hope you get it soon.”

“Me too. I can’t wait to see your face when you open mine.” They had promised to call one another when they received the other’s gift.

“Well, I don’t want to keep you too long. I’m sure you have people who want to spend time with you today.”

Alfred smiled. “Alright, just send me messages, okay? You don’t have to spend Christmas alone, you’ve got me!”

Even though Christmas was almost over where he was, it still warmed his heart to hear Alfred say that.

“I will,” he smiled in return.

“Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas,” he replied before ending the call. He didn’t feel so alone now.

 

“So, you and Kiku get along _pretty_ well I see.” Alfred blushed and he wondered how much Peter had heard of their conversation.

“You could say that,” he remarked.

“Yes, I could.” Peter sat down beside Alfred on the floor. He sighed before continuing. “I’m glad you two get along so well. He’s such a busy kid with so many responsibilities. I can’t imagine what his social life must be like.” He put a hand on Alfred’s shoulder. “I’m glad he has a friend like you.”

Alfred’s lips twitched upwards almost shyly. “I’m glad I met him. He’s pretty sweet.”

“And _cute_ from what I’ve heard.” Peter teased Alfred before getting up and leaving again; probably to help Arthur clean up. That reminded Alfred that he had to help Francis and Mattie prepare dinner. Francis said something about having a traditional French meal, which according to Alfred’s French textbook, consists of multiple courses. The thought excited him enough to send him almost flying to the kitchen to join in on the cooking.

He made sure to occasionally respond to Kiku’s messages, hoping that in some way that simple act would cheer him up.

-blep

Alfred’s gift arrived the morning of New Year’s Eve. Kiku rushed to call him, though he still had some reservations about calling him without asking whether or not he was busy. Despite this, Alfred picked up almost immediately and after the initial static between them cleared, Kiku began to speak.

“Alfred, I got it!” He said more enthusiastically then he usually sounded. Kiku held up the package to his face. It was about the size his head and was tightly packed.

Alfred grinned. “Open it!”

“Okay,” Kiku said, grabbing his box cutter and carefully slicing the box open. It was stuffed to the brim with cushioning, both newspaper and “packing peanuts” (as Alfred called them). Kiku carefully navigated to the center of the box, not wanting to create a mess as he had just finally finished his cleaning for the New Year.

In the box lay a lone snow globe. The base was a flashy silver and it had “the Brooklyn Bridge” (not that Kiku knew what it was, he just appreciated it as a nicely built bridge) etched into it. Amidst all the fluffy white plastic, several recognizable New York landmarks were all set to the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty.

“Make sure to check the bottom!”

Kiku flipped it over, sending the snow to the top and spotted the winding key. He began to twist it and was surprised when it played a very classic tune that even he knew from watching American films. Frank Sintra’s “New York, New York” echoed through his room, catching the attention of his uncle from the kitchen. Yao didn’t say anything as he looked back at him, he only smiled.

“Thank you, Alfred. It’s beautiful. I’ve never received one from another country before.”

“You should! I love buying them when I visit other countries and states.” Alfred looked pleased with himself.

Kiku gingerly set down the snow globe on his computer desk and pulled out the messily decorated envelope that rested at the bottom of the box. It had a plethora of decorations—which definitely seemed like Alfred’s style. It was covered in small doodles of both Kiku and himself as well Christmas themed stickers. It was also covered in glitter and thus got glitter all over himself and his clothes, but he was still grateful nonetheless.

It was a very simple homemade card, not as extravagantly decorated as the envelope, just a green piece of colored paper folded into a card with a big “Merry Christmas” on the front. In the inside is where the real gift lies, many messages of well-wishes and introductions came from the friends and family of Alfred. Alfred had his own, scribbled messily in his typical handwriting:

_Hope you have the best year ever!!! Also a Merry Christmas!!! Stay warm!!_

_Alfred F. Jones_

Kiku ignored the little heart he drew next to his name, though he thought it was really cute.

“Thanks again.”

Alfred waved him off. “It was no problem! I love sending gifts, it’s what I live for—especially during the holidays.” Alfred then continued to give Kiku the low down on what he received and what he gave. Kiku laughed upon hearing the situation with Francis and the perfume and smiled when Alfred thanked him for the tea suggestions.

“I hope my gift comes for you soon.” Kiku finally said. 

“The tracking number you gave me told me it should be here by tomorrow, so the 31st for me, probably the 1st for you.” Alfred mentioned.

“Well, I’m sure you’re probably tired. I should let you go.” With that Kiku ended the call and left to go help Yao in the kitchen.

 

After eating some soba noodles and catching up, Kiku and Yao walked to the temple. They stuck close to one another in an attempt to not get lost in the crowds of people all heading towards the temple as well. They abandoned wearing their traditional wear, since Yao has lost his luggage on the plane. Kiku remembered how upset was when he first arrived from the airport—Kiku had to make him some chamomile to calm down (though now he was complaining about how _tired_ he was).

Kiku had planned to leave his phone at home, like he did every year. If his father really wanted to talk to him, he would visit, or call, or just make an attempt to communicate with him. He had forgotten to though, the weight of the phone seemed to drag down his pocket like an anchor. He didn’t want to feel even guiltier than he usually did.

The bells had just finished their tolling and everyone was making their way to the shrines. It was a New Year, filled with opportunities and decision.

Kiku could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. He chewed his lower lip as he thought of his father. He really didn’t want to talk to him right now.

Despite this, he dug into his pocket, albeit against his will. He couldn’t take Yao’s side glance.

He was pleasantly surprised when he realized it was Alfred calling. They rarely liked calling each other over the phone (due to the extra costs), but for once, Kiku really didn’t care.

Kiku answered as if it were an instant reflex, putting his phone to his ear with a small smile on his lips.

“Happy New Year!” Alfred shouted into the phone, momentarily distorting his hearing.

“Isn’t it only 11 in the morning in America?” Kiku answered with a small laugh, looking around at the crowd around him. He felt a little self-conscious.

 “I know, but it’s past midnight in Japan, right?”

Kiku put two and two together, understanding Alfred’s intentions with a nod. “Thank you.”

“I don’t want to hold you up for too, long, but this is going to be the best year of our lives, okay?” For once, Alfred was serious. His sincerity filled him with warmth.

“You got it.” After that they told each other their goodbyes and Kiku continued his walk to the shrine, feeling a bit more optimistic than when he left his house.

He obviously had to return the favor.

                                                     

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, I had a hard time writing that last part. I was reading up on the Japanese New Year and there was...a lot. You could say I was _a little_ overwhelmed. I tried though, maybe when I go back to edit the story I'll change a few things...also I'm sorry the writing is so abrupt...anyway, see you guys in the next chapter~  
>  PS. So, rad stuff miss_lestrudel should be coming out with her own gerita side story for this au. She's awesome and you should check her out.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * ["Friendly" Occurrences](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6072850) by [Miss_lestrudel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_lestrudel/pseuds/Miss_lestrudel)




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